The vaunted one-two punch of Jojo Cruz and Benedict Chua combined for 39 points to lift Versacool to an 83-58 rout of Lite Shipping Corporation at the start of the 11th Jaycees Basketball Association (JBA) season last Sunday at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.
Cruz, a sales supervisor of EQ diapers, sizzled from the three-point arc, hitting four triples that broke the backs of Lite Shipping led by playing coach and JBA commissioner Dr. Boy Te.
Versacool, which is owned by Dennis Tan, had a near flawless offense, allowing Lite Shipping to lead only in the first few minutes of the first period. Te kept on reminding his players to defend well and not flirt with complacency but to no avail as Versacool was already on a scoring rampage.
Everytime Lite Shipping threatened to come close, Chua will rush for the rescue by scoring from his hang-time moves and undergoal stabs that would sometimes resulted into a three-point play opportunity.
Chua, owner of Upland Feeds who once as president of the now defunt Mandaue Industrial-Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA), finished with 19 points although it was Cruz who topped Versacool with 20 markers.
Jimbo Noel, who owns a sports tailoring shop, topscored for Lite Shipping with 21 points followed by Joseph Jayme with 11.
The scores
Versacool (83) - Cruz 20, Chua 19, Sy 9, Mercado 9, Tolentino 8, Lim 6, Huang 4, Garcia 4, Yap 2, Ong 2, Tan 2
Lite Shipping (58) - Noel 21, Jayme 11, Odulio 9, Seno 4, Quijano 4, Yu 2, Te 2 (GGM)