Lowly Air21 humbles Petron Blaze

Mark Isip vs Chris Lutz. PBA IMAGES by Nuki Sabio

MANILA, Philippines — Air21 led from the beginning and completed a rout of Petron Blaze, 97-76, Friday in the 2012 PBA Philippine Cup at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Mark Isip scattered 22 points and plucked seven rebounds, while Rob Reyes flirted with a perfect offensive outing missing just a shot to finish with 17 points.

The victory for the Express came when they most needed it, which stopped a four-game slide and avoided the bottom of the standings.

“We made adjustments, we outworked them this time around,” said head coach Franz Pumaren.

From the opening tip, Air21 never relented and kept on pushing for the lead which stretched to as far as 27 points early in the fourth quarter.

The Express also limited their turnovers to as low as 10, which has always haunted them in their five setbacks this conference.

“We limited our turnovers, the way we throw the ball away, it’s a no brainer why we’re losing,” said Pumaren as his squad, in turn, pounced on Petron Blaze’s miscues and got 14 points off them.

What was just a 48-42 lead at the half turned into an insurmountable gap in the second half with Isip and Reyes taking turns on the offensive end.

The Boosters had little chance to come back in the game against the Express, who show an incredible 58 percent clip from the field.

Petron Blaze, which had its two-game win streak snapped, meanwhile, just couldn’t get its offense going and find an opening to take over.

Arwind Santos had 15 and 14 rebounds, Chris Lutz added 13 while Alex Cabagnot 11 markers for the Boosters, who dropped to 3-4.