Prime Asia whacks Kia in Partner's Cup semis

MANILA, Philippines - The well-rested Prime Asia-UV Lancers unleashed their ultimate firepower in the final half to demolish the Kia Motors/CIT-U Wildcats, 97-76, at the start of the semifinal round in the 6th CESAFI Partner's Cup men's basketball tournament at the Cebu Coliseum.

Versatile center Wowie Escocio muscled his way to a game-high 24 points as he provided the offensive load for Prime Asia, whose 7-1 win-loss record in the double round elimination gave them an automatic semifinals berth.

The game was so easy to the UV Lancers-manned squad that their 15-point lead at halftime, 58-43, suddenly ballooned to 25 points, 86-61, early in the fourth period. Kia Motors groped for form from there onwards.

Four other Prime Asia players finished in double figures, with John Abad and Phil Mercader chipping in 15 and 12 points, respectively, while Andrew Avillanoza and Raffy Oktubre netted 11 markers apiece.

Mercader's back-to-back 3-pointers in the second period ignited a big run for Prime Asia, which could not lead by more than 10 points in the entire first quarter.

Rene Jun Saycon, who was held off to five points for Prime Asia, suffered a minor ankle injury with 30 seconds left in the match.

Kia Motors, on the other hand, started missing their shots in the third period, allowing Prime Asia to break the game wide open.

Allan Dimco paced Kia Motors with 20 points followed by Floyd Taboada with 14 and Vincent Menguito with a dozen markers.

As of this writing last night, the San Marino Corned Tuna-USPF Panthers were still slugging it out with the Lion Tiger Aerosol/USJ-R Jaguars.

The top two finishers at the end of the semis will clash for the coveted championship in a best-of-five series, while the lower-ranked squads will duke it out for the third place honors.       

The scores

 Prime Asia-UV (97) - Escocio 2, Abad 15, Mercader 12, Avillanoza 11, Oktubre 11, Calo 9, Mendoza 5, Saycon 5, Perolino 3, Kadir 2

Kia Motors/CIT-U (76) - Dimco 20, Taboada 14, Menguito 12, Graf 8, Batiquin 6, Baclaan 5, Brigoli 5, Taghoy 3, Dela Cerna 2, Pono 1

Halftime: 58-53 (FREEMAN)