Jeron Teng. PBA IMAGES
Jeron Teng tallied a historic third triple-double and led Flying V to a dominant 116-101 blowout of Batangas and complete the team’s perfect 10-0 campaign this 2017 PBA D-League Foundation Cup on Tuesday at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
The La Salle stalwart registered 24 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists to lead the romp for the Thunder as it became only the fourth team to reach the milestone previously done by NLEX in the 2012 and 2014 Foundation Cups, and Cagayan Valley in the 2015 Aspirants’ Cup.
Still, coach Eric Altamirano isn’t putting too much on Flying V’s eliminations sweep as he prepares his team for the semifinals as the top-seed.
“We’re happy that we’re able to get it done, but I’ll be happier if we win it all the way,” he said. “As much as we want to win a championship, we can’t look beyond that yet. Our focus right now is the playoffs and we have to hurdle the semis first.”
Thomas Torres caught fire from the outside as he went on a flawless 6-of-6 clip from threes to wound up with 26 markers and five boards.
Eric Salamat also had 22 points, six assists, and two rebounds in the win.
With the Thunder in control the whole game, Batangas threatened to close in and got the lead to as low as 11, 84-73, with 9:53 remaining, but Salamat and Torres torched the nets to once again bring the lead back to 20.
New recruit Robby Celiz paced Batangas (6-4) with 15 points off the bench, while Cedric de Joya had 14 markers and five assists.
The defeat brought the Batangueños down to fifth-seed, as they will now brace for the fourth-ranked CEU in the quarterfinals, which will start on Thursday.
The Scores:
FLYING V 116 – Torres 26, Teng 24, Salamat 22, Thiele 13, Paredes 9, Tampus 7, Banal 5, Dionisio 5, Cañada 4, Austria 1, Koga 0.
BATANGAS 101 – Celiz 15, De Joya 14, Isit 13, Ablaza 11, Saitanan 10, Mendoza 8, Ragasa 7, Avenido 6, Anderson 5, Gabayni 4, Dela Peña 3, Bulawan 3, Bautista 2, Laude 0.
Quarters: 36-24, 57-46, 84-71, 116-101.