PBA IMAGE/Nuki Sabio
MANILA, Philippines—Petron Blaze treated the worst team in the league as a warm-up for its forthcoming duel with the leading club in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Arwind Santos posted his sixth double-double of the season—18 points and 11 rebounds—as the Boosters pummeled the winless Shopinas.com Clickers, 102-77, Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Boosters came out of the halftime intermission extra sharp, surprising the Clickers with 21 straight points in a seven-minute stretch that doomed Shopinas to its eighth straight loss.
It was actually a 23-0 tear counting its last basket in the second quarter as Petron, starring Rob Reyes, Joseph Yeo and Santos, pulled away from a 46-43 lead with the third longest scoring run in league history.
“They’re (Clickers) dangerous when it comes to transition and fastbreak points, much like Rain Or Shine,” said Petron Blaze coach Ato Agustin.
“I would say that it was like a practice game for us.”
Ferociously chasing the leaders of the conference, the Boosters are now locked in a tie with the Meralco Bolts with five wins against three setbacks with the Rain Or Shine Elasto Painters holding the lead at
6-1.
“Our goal is to hold our opponents below 80 points. If we do that, we’ll be able to dictate the tempo of the game,” said Agustin.
The former league MVP and San Miguel Beer star said he emphasized the team’s objective to his players at halftime and got the response he wanted.
Alex Cabagnot’s jumper in the dying seconds of the first half ignited the assault before the Boosters followed it up in the third with a brazen attack spearheaded by Reyes, Yeo and Santos.
Confused, the Clickers flubbed their first 11 attempts coming off the halftime rest while committing seven turnovers.
Barangay Ginebra holds the all-time record for the longest scoring spree, unleashing 32 unanswered points against Formula Shell in Game 5 of their 1991 First Conference Finals.
Alaska is second with a 26-0 charge against Talk ‘N Text in the 2008 Philippine Cup.
“We stuck to the plan and reminded my players not to relax when we felt that we’re going easy again,” said Agustin.
The scores:
First Game
PETRON 102—Santos 18, Yeo 16, Cabagnot 16, Guevarra 12, Miranda 12 Reyes 7, Sharma 6, Doruelo 5, Agustin 4, Baclao 4, Ildefonso 2.
SHOPINAS.COM 77—Ritualo 17, Jazul 16, Sena 13, Mirza 7, Se 6, Menor 5, Aquino 5, Sison 4, Espiritu 4, Hermida 0, Duncil 0, Daa 0, Hubalde 0.
Quarters: 30-18, 46-43, 76-52, 102-77