 |
| Letran star Kevin Santos scores a slam for Pampanga against Antipolo's Joshua Buenaflor. SLA |
SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—The Pampanga Delta quickly showed why they are the team to beat in the Sinag Laya Asya Born 2001 Cup, drubbing the Antipolo Pilgrims, 101-50, in the nightcap of the opening day festivities on Saturday at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center here.
Pampanga leaned on its depth as the second and even the third units took flight to help the team pull away from Antipolo, which quickly fizzled after putting up a gallant fight against Pampanga's starters led by Letran's Kevin Santos and La Salle's Jonnel Policarpio for most of the first quarter.
Jun Roque led the Delta with 17 points on 8-for-12 shooting, four rebounds, one assist, and one block, while Policarpio added 16 points on 7-of-9 field goals including a perfect 2-for-2 on threes, four rebounds, four assists, and one steal.
The Pampanga-based teams actually went 2-1 in the opening day triple-header of the men's under-22 basketball tournament presented by Converge and supported by Foton, JProject, Royce Hotel, Sunsport, Bluesky Advertising, Finn Cotton, WCube Solutions, and SCD.
Luid One Kapampangan drew first blood in the SLA after escaping with a 73-70 win against LGD San Pedro.
CJ Buitison led the way for Luid One Kapampangan as he exploded for 26 points, including two clutch free throws with nine seconds left that put pressure on San Pedro to go for a three in the last play.
Luid One Kapampangan heaved a sigh of relief in the end as Micko Nambi misfired his three-point attempt before time expired.
IC Dauting added 11 points, three rebounds, two assists, and one steal for Luid One Kapampangan.
Herald Cabrido led San Pedro with 15 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals, but he too had seven turnovers.
The other Laguna-based team, Laguna-Datzlav-EOZ, spoiled the potential Pampagueño domination as it stunned Floridablanca-based Hustle, 70-63.
Mhickael Pontanoza showed the way for Laguna, which outscored Hustle, 26-10, in the fourth quarter to score the come-from-behind win, with 14 points and seven rebounds. Glenn Jared Madiz had a double-double of 12 and 10.
Follow him on X: @IvanSaldajeno
.jpg)
