Sun & Rain, Powerfloor start hot in UABC hoopla

CEBU, Philippines - Mike Cinco exploded with 30 points and Jun Villacorta nearly charted a historic quadruple-double as Sun & Rain pulled off a 98-90 upset of Liquid Tile at the start of the 3rd United Architects Basketball Club (UABC) season billed as the “2nd Davies Cup” at the CEC gym.

Cinco also pulled down seven rebounds, four steals, two assists and two blocks, while Villacorta dished out 26 points, 10 rebounds, eight streals, six assists and two blocks in all-around show of hardcourt brilliance.

Overall, Sun & Rain bombarded Liquid Tile with 11 triples, four of which coming from the 19 points churned out by Rolan Paolo Alberto.

Maintaining a double-digit lead starting in the third period, Sun & Rain closed out Liquid Tile by hitting 11-of-12 from the stripe in the windup. Josephril “AI” Partosa chipped in 15 markers for Sun & Rain.

Mark Capili topscored for Liquid Tile with 27 points followed by Erik Perez with 19 points. Elmer Laguna and Jay Ramores banged in 22 markers combined.

In the main game, Powerfloor kicked off its title defense with a hard-earned 70-66 victory over Bio-Fresh.

Last season’s Finals MVP Jay-R Decatoria dominated the shaded territory with authority on the way to romp off with the player of the game honors with 19 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Bio-Fresh actually put up a brave fight, but couldn’t just contain Powerfloor’s nerves of steel when the game was on the line.

Most Improved Player awardee Klein Baladya topped Powerfloor with 21 points, while Oliver Tan added 14 markers followed by Buck Sia with 12.

Matunog paced Bio-Fresh with 20 points. — EBV (THE FREEMAN)