Games Monday JCSGO Gym
1 p.m. – Café France vs Tanduay Light
3 p.m. – Hapee vs Jumbo Plastic
Cebuana Lhuillier capitalized on a dominant first half in its 118-78 blowout win against MP Hotel as the Gems assumed the early lead in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup on Thursday at the Ynares Arena in Pasig City.
It was practically a walk in the park for the Gems, who exploited mismatches and the inexperience of their young rivals, built around the core of the Letran Knights seeking to toughen up for the coming NCAA wars.
Cebuana Lhuillier broke the game open early on as Jackson Corpuz, Almond Vosotros and Norberto Torres repeatedly scored at will. The trio combined for 37 points on 13 of 20 shooting in the first half as the Gems built a 17-point lead at the end of the first quarter and had a 60-38 advantage at halftime.
Boycie Zamar, the Cebuana Lhuillier coach, quickly downplayed their second straight win.
“This is a game of basketball. Today you can win by one point, tomorrow you can win by a big margin but the next day you don’t know what might happen,” Zamar said.
“What’s more important about this win is that the chemistry was there, the selflessness was there, the sacrifice was there. Mo (Tautuaa) didn’t score much but the leadership was there.”
Corpuz tallied a game-high 26 points that went with his nine rebounds and four steals in 22 minutes of play. Torres and Vosotros added 15 apiece for the Gems, who shot 58 percent from the field.
The Gems also dominated the glass, 40-33 that netted them a 54-26 edge on points in the paint.
Jopher Custodio scored 17 points off the bench for the Warriors, who trailed by as many as 42 points (118-76) on the way to their second straight defeat.
In the second game, Abel Galliguez poured all his 16 points fourth quarter to help the Cagayan Valley Rising Suns beat the rallying AMA University Titans, 75-70.
After going scoreless through three quarters, Galliguez hit his stride in the fourth. He scored all but four of his team’s 20 points in the period as the Rising Suns held on and weather a belated charge by the Titans, who threatened at 68-72 on a 3-point play by Jay-R Taganas with under three minutes left.
The 5-10 streak shooting guard went 6 of 8 from the field in the last 10 minutes including 3 of 5 from 3-point range and finished with a team-high 16 points.
AMA kept the game close for three quarters but couldn’t gain any headway due to sloppy shooting. Scores:
Cagayan Valley 75 – Galliguez 16, Celada 12, Mabulac 11, Trollano 9, Tayongtong 9, Santos 7, Melano 6, Flores 3, Arquero 2, Dilay 0, Salamat 0, Sanchez 0, Rogado 0.
AMA University 70 – Arellano 25, Terso 11, Taganas 10, King 7, Maiquez 6, Martinez 6, Tampus 3, Quijano 0, Jordan 0.
Quarters: 14-13; 37-35; 55-48; 75-70.
Cebuana Lhuillier 118 – Corpuza 26, Torres 15, Vostros 15, Enciso 14, Tautuaa 11, Zamar 9, Acibar 5, Marata 3, J. Mangahas 3, Bautista 3, Sarangay 3, Acosta 2, Lopez 0.
MP Hotel 78 – Custodio 17, Colina 12, Nambatac 12, Escosio 9, Mendoza 8, Pacquiao 5, Calvo 4, Jur Luib 3, Yaya 2, Quinto 2, Magat 2, Dela Pena 2, Yusop 0.
Quarters: 30-13; 60-38; 87-58; 118-78