Parks, Bulldogs down Tams, share Filoil lead

NATIONAL University proved too sharp for Far Eastern U, 85-74, yesterday to gain a share of the lead in the Filoil Flying V Preseason Hanes Premier Cup in San Juan.

Bobby Ray Parks dished out a solid all-around game with 29 points, nine rebounds and four assists as the Bulldogs joined Ateneo and San Beda on top with a 2-0 record at the Filoil Flying V Arena.

The Eagles and Lions actually part ways for the solo lead in the last game of today’s triple-header at 5:15 p.m., which actually serves as a rematch of last year’s finals won by Ateneo.

Later, Letran overcame a sluggish start to come away with a 64-56 victory over University of the East.

Kevin Alas tallied 17 points, including 15 in the first half, while center Jam Cortes posted a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds as the Knights evened their card at 1-1.

Letran coach Louie Alas was far from satisfied with the victory, saying the Warriors outworked his squad. But the Red Warriors threw the ball away 24 times, allowing the Knights to capitalize.

“We’re just lucky that UE committed a lot of turnovers, most of them unforced,” said Alas, whose squad was outrebounded, 36-53.

Cortes picked up where Alas and Kevin Racal left off in the third quarter, scoring nine points to give the Knights a 51-39 lead.

Parks did most of the damage in the first three quarters, scoring 15 of his output as the Bulldogs built a 24-point buffer to put the game to bed early.

But coach Eric Altamirano chose to downplay the convincing win against a team tipped to figure prominently in the UAAP title chase.

“I hope this win will not get into the heads of our players, because we’re still a work in progress,” Altamirano, who is on his second season coaching the Bulldogs.  With reports from Randolph Leongson, Contributor

The scores:

First Game

NU 85—Parks 29, Villamor 15, De Guzman 15, Alolino 10, Mbe 9, Neypes 4, Javillonar 3, Roño 0, Celda 0, Singh 0.

FEU 74—A. Bringas 13, Pogoy 12, Romeo 11, Tolomia 9, Garcia 8, M. Bringas 8, Hargrove 6, Foronda 3, Mendoza 2, Belo 2, Escoto 0, Jumao-as 0

Quarters: 21-15, 42-29, 69-49, 85-74

Second Game

LETRAN 64—K. Alas 17, Racal 12, Cortes 11, Cruz 9, Lituania 5, J. Alas 4, Gabriel 2, Gabawan 2, Luib 2, Belorio 0, Pantin 0

UE 56—Sumang 12, Javier 8, Galanza 8, Casajeros 7, Santos 6, Belleza 6, Valdez 4, Noble 3, Sumido 2, Alberto 0, Hernandez 0 , Razon 0, Duran 0, Duncil 0

Quarters: 10-16, 26-24, 51-39, 64-56