SAN PEDRO – Data Force San Pedro came out fully recharged and played with much energy to outplay Calamba, 105-98, and take the head start in the Liga Laguna Season 3 best-of-three finals series at the San Pedro Sports Complex.
Ron Lester Guerrero started things off with his sizzling shooting from beyond the arc then AJ Fransman injected energy in the late stretch, capped with an alley-oop slam from MJ Homo, as the home squad moved a win away from becoming the new champion of this provincial-wide tournament.
Guerrero scored 18 points, all coming from beyond the arc, that allowed San Pedro to set the tone early in the game. He buried five three-point shots in the first half alone.
Just when Calamba was threatening to snatch the game – and the home court advantage – Fransman, the athletic big man, stepped up.
The player came off the bench and tallied 18 markers, including a spectacular slam off a nice feed from Homo, that brought the house down.
With the entire playing field in a frenzy, it took the fight out of Calamba.
Also playing steadily was Allan Mangahas, the former PBA player, who finished the game with 16 points, seven rebounds and eight assists as he kept a hold of San Pedro’s tempo to draw first blood in the best-of-three series of this tournament put up by chairman Andre Felix and vice chairman Raymond Ferrer with veteran referee Joel Ngo serving as commissioner.
John Abis from Perpetual Help was also a solid presence inside, scattering 13 markers on top of eight boards, while John Carlo Villar also provided firepower off the bench and contributed 10.
