Eagles claw Blades, keep win streak

The Davao Eagles continued to soar high even on a hostile territory as they swooped down on the Batangas Blades and fashioned out a 84-78 victory for the solo lead in the MBA FedEx Crossover Cup at the La Salle Gym in Lipa.

The Eagles rode on an explosive fourth quarter run to scuttle the bid of the Blades with Jomar Tierra and Felix Belano combining for 17 points to power Davao to its third straight victory in this season-opening conference of the community-based league.

Tierra and Belano combined splendidly for the Eagles in the final canto as the Eagles turned what had been a close, tightly-fought contest into a runaway victory. Tierra fired 10 of his 21 points in that stretch while Belano tossed in seven of his topscoring 25 points.

It was also the spitfirish Belano's third consecutive above-20-point performance as the Eagles further underscored their readiness to mount a serious crack at the crown after sweeping their first two games at home - beating Pasig-Rizal, 80-77, and Manila, 86-84.

In Cebu, Fil-Am Chris Clay eluded three Cebu defenders and scored on an open lane in the last 10 seconds to give the visiting Laguna Lakers an 87-86 victory over the Gems.

Clay finished with 29 points, 13 rebounds and three assists while Biboy Simon had 28 points as the Lakers notched their third victory in four games while dealing the Gems their third straight loss.