MANILA, Philippines—EA Regen exploited its edge in height as Raymund Almazan exploded with 20 points in defeating Fruitas, 74-63, Thursday in the 2013 PBA D-League Foundation Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
With a second straight win and a 4-2 record, the Delta seemed to have figure out on how to maximize their towering line-up, with 6-foot-seven cogs like Almazan and Ian Sangalang.
“We wanted to take advantage of our big men in this game and get back on defense right away, and stop their point guards,” said Allan Trinidad, who is still manning the sidelines for the EA Regen.
And the Delta managed to execute its game plan almost perfectly as they outrebounded the Shakers, 58-59, and held guards Pong Escobal and Anjo Caram to just nine and six, respectively.
Dominating the paint, EA took 32 trips to the stripe and made 24—which was its biggest edge as Fruitas only went 7-of-12 in freethrow shooting.
But it wasn’t until midway the third quarter when the Delta managed to get the space they wanted, taking a 58-44 lead on a triple by Jonathan Semira.
A basket from Almazan stretched the lead to 15 with 7:07 to play and the Delta were not threatened anymore from there.
Almazan also added 14 rebounds and Semira scored all of his 15 points in the pivotal third quarter.
EA Regen, though, still commited 17 turnovers that paved way for 15 turnovers points and 12 fastbreak points by Fruitas.
Carlo Lastimosa was the lone Shaker in double digits with 25 points, giving them a taste of the lead, 40-39, with 6:10 in the third.
But a fourth foul in the ensuing possesion limited Lastimosa for the rest of the game. He scored six again the fourth, but Fruitas didn’t come close anew.