Welcoat Paints 2004 strolled to its ninth straight win in as many games with an 80-51 bashing of JRJ Enterprises 2007 in the Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association’s 10th Dr. Chen Lieh Fu Memorial Cup at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.
Christian Espada pumped in 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Aljhune Areja banged in20 markers on top of eight assists and two steals as Class 2004 assured itself of a twice-to-beat incentive going into the quarterfinals with a clean 9-0 slate.
Class 2004 pounced on the hapless Class 2007 quarter after quarter. After closing the first half with a commanding 46-28 advantage, the Paintmasters kept on mauling the youngest graduates in the last two quarters, 34-23, for the 29-point blowout.
Robin Chu fired a season-high 15 points on top of nine rebounds, four assists and two steals for Class 2007. Raymark Ryan Ong added 14 points and six rebounds followed by Juan Carlo Espada with 11 markers, four rebounds, three assists and three steals but their efforts went to waste as they fell to 5-4.
In the other game, Security & Systems Monitoring Inc. ’87 squeaked past Asian Home Appliance ’89/93, 46-44, for its only second win in seven starts.
Joubert Lim topscored for Class ’87 with 14 points and five rebounds, while Henrich Chua cashed in 12 points and three rebounds on a 5-of-7 shooting from the 2-point field goal.
In completing the huge upset, Class ’87 held off Class ’89/93 to an all-time low two points in the final period.
Ryan Alexs Mendez topped Class ’89/93 with 17 points and five rebounds. Edison Ong added 13 points and a career-high 20 rebounds, but his big night was spoiled as Class ’89/93 dropped to 2-5 in a tie with its tormentor.—EBV