By Kristel Satumbaga
The San Juan Knights displayed their offensive strength once again and whipped the Laguna Heroes, 81-56, Wednesday night in the 2018 Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Datu Cup at The Arena in San Juan City.
Making full use of their homecourt advantage, the Knights stepped on the gas early to take a 20-9 first-quarter advantage before padding their lead to 41-23 at halftime and never looked back.
The win enabled the Knights to stay unbeaten after five games.
Former PBA player John Wilson led the way for the Knights as he scattered 13 points aside from pulling down four rebounds.
Ryan Ayon Ayon also shone offensively with 11 points.
Larry Rodriguez, another former PBA player in the team, also delivered significant numbers with 10 points, seven boards, four assists, four blocks, and two steals.
The loss dropped Heroes to 8th place with a 2-3 mark.
Ralph Olivarez was the lone double-digit scorer for the Heroes 15 points.
Meanwhile, the Bulacan Kuyas of Mighty Sports’ Caesar Wongchuking got a big lift from Stephen Siruma and Jerick Cañada as they nipped the Davao Occidental Tigers, 88-85.
Siruma came through a solid all-around performance with 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists while Cañada had a double-double effort of 16 points and 10 assists apart from six boards.
The Kuyas improved to 4-1, creating a four-way logjam at second spot with the Mandaluyong El Tigre, the Bataan Risers and the Makati Skyscrapers.
The Tigers fell to their third loss against two wins.
