Elite ride luck to solo top spot
John Villiarias of NLEX forces Mark Lopez of Café France to look for an open man in last night’s match. AUGUST DELA CRUZ
Blackwater Sports coach Leo Isaac thinks his team scored a lucky win after his Elite survived Jumbo Plastic’s late fightback, 72-69, to grab the solo lead in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup yesterday at Blue Eagle Gym.
Justin Chua dropped all but two of his 12 points in the second half and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Elite, who picked up their fifth triumph in six games.
“We’re lucky that we got this win even if we played below par,” said Isaac. “It’s not the usual venue, so we struggled with our shooting range. Still, I commend the boys for playing intelligent basketball.”
In the second game, NLEX overcame a poor start to rout Café France, 85-62, and climb to share of fifth at 3-2.
Borgie Hermida, Nico Salva and Garvo Lanete fueled a second-half breakaway where the Road Warriors scored twice as much as the Bakers, 58-29.
“We were rattled because we wanted to get back at them from last conference,” NLEX coach Boyet Fernandez said of the Bakers, who snapped the defending champions’ record 24-game winning run last year.
Hermida collected 16 points, three assists and three steals, while Salva fired 13 of his 16 points in the second half on top of nine boards in the win that spoiled the Bakers’ bid to keep a share of the top spot.
The Elite nearly blew a 13-point advantage, 64-51, in the final five minutes when Elliot Tan and Macky Acosta ignited a run that pushed the Giants within four, 71-62.
But the newcomer Giants failed to make the most out of the Elite’s struggles from the foul line—where they nailed only one of four attempts—in the last 40 seconds to skid to a 1-5 record.
The scores:
First Game
BLACKWATER SPORTS 72—Chua 12, Ferrer 11, Ciriacruz G. 11, Celiz 10, Mangahas A. 6, Mangahas J. 5, Pe 4, Llagas 4, Suguitan 4, Mazo 3, Bagatsing 2, Vigil 0, Austria 0.
JUMBO PLASTIC 69—Gomez 14, Tan 13, Vidal 12, Acosta 8, Hayes 6, Del Rosario 5, Mariano 4, Najorda 3, Daquioag 2, Ignacio 2.
Quarters: 15-16, 36-30, 53-44, 72-69
Second Game
NLEX 85—Hermida 17, Salva 16, Lanete 12, Pascual J. 10, Ganuelas 6, Camson 6, Long 5, Pascual R. 5, Garcia 5, Alas 2, Villarias 1, Amer 0.
CAFÉ FRANCE 62—Lopez 14, Parala 9, Abundo 9. Knuttel 8, Magat 8, Batino 7, Silungan 3, Magbitang 2, Maconocido 2, Gallardo 0, Lamosa 0.
Quarters: 16-14, 27-33, 60-51, 85-62
