Batangas blasts Zark's on second half flurry

PBA

By Ivan Saldajeno

LOS BAÑOS--Batangas did an instant encore of sorts of Tanduay's second half domination and crushed Zark's, 124-84, in their PBA D-League Foundation Cup showdown at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig on Tuesday night.

While twice falling short of matching Tanduay's record-setting 53-point single-quarter output in the third quarter that helped them maul Gamboa earlier Tuesday, it was all Batangas in the last two quarters, outscoring Zark's, 39-15, in the third and 42-17 in the fourth to overturn a 42-52 halftime deficit.

“Syempre, chinallenge ko lang naman ang mga players. Nakita nila na hindi tama ang ginagawa namin at hindi rin tama na 52 points ang iniiskor ng kalaban,” said coach Eric Gonzales. “Manalo, matalo, ang mahalaga sa akin, gawin natin ang tama.”

Cedrick Ablaza, Earvin Mendoza, and Joseph Sedurifa each tallied 16 markers to lead six players in scoring for Batangas, which moved up to second place at 4-1. Sedurifa actually had a double-double by grabbing 15 rebounds and even came close to a triple-double after dishing seven assists.

Robby Celiz paced Zark's, which slipped to 1-5, with 21 points, six rebounds, and four assists.

Box Scores:

Batangas 124-Ablaza 16, Mendoza 16, Sedurifa 16, Anderson 14, De Joya 13, Mangabang 13, Laude 8, Ragasa 8, Bautista 7, Saitanan 5, Dela Pena 4, Mag-isa 2, Napoles 2

Zark's 84-Celiz 21, De Leon 14, Mangahas 12, Bautista 8, Ferrer 8, Sheriff 6, Cayabyab 4, Nalos 4, Argamino 3, Cariaga 3, Cudal 1, Juruena 0

Quarterscores: 19-27, 42-52, 81-67, 124-84

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