Tanduay routs SLR anew:

Eric Menk came up with a hulking performance versus Sta. Lucia, scoring almost half of his team's output as the Tanduay Rhum Masters re-stamped their class over the Realtors, 83-70, last night to move closer to gaining a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinal phase of the Alaxan PBA All-Filipino Cup at the PhilSports Arena.

Menk simply outdid himself, firing a career-high 45 points to power the Rhum Masters to a second blowout of the Realtors in as many games in less than three weeks that put the team back on the solo lead with an 8-1 (win-loss) mark.

The prized Fil-Am cager nearly outscored the entire Sta. Lucia team with 29 points in the first half.

And with Sonny Alvarado struggling on his own game, Menk saw no reason to relax in the second half, as he continued to impose his will on his hapless defenders, adding 16 more to break his previous best of 43 made against Pop Cola on Oct. 27 last year.

He went 7-of-7 from the stripe, 2-of-5 from the arc and 16-of-29 from the two-point zone on the way to his fourth 40-point game in a young pro career. He also embellished his splendid game with 16 rebounds, and two assists against five turnovers in 47 minutes of action.

"I felt I was running 100 miles per hour in the first half and it was pretty good. But I was surprised when somebody told me that I was already nearing to break my career record," said Menk. "Sonny (Alvarado) had an off-night so I think I have to pick up the slack a bit."

"He was so inspired and I just don't know why. Our game was at 5 and he came here at 2 p.m. for the shootaround. Inspiradong-inspirado talaga," said Tanduay coach Alfrancis Chua of his ace player.

Menk played so big that the Rhum Masters were hardly affected by the poor performance of Alvarado.

The other half of the dreaded Tanduay 1-2 punch scored only seven points, the first time in the last nine games that he finished below 20 points.

However, the solid game of Menk proved too much for Sta. Lucia to overcome.

Largely on the efforts of Menk, the Rhum Masters jumped the gun on the Realtors, leading by as many as 22 points before eventually duplicating their 104-76 rout in their first meeting.

The Realtors actually mounted a rally in the final half but fell apart anew as Menk started to attack the basket again.

Menk could have scored even more had Chua decided not to take him out after finally surpassing his record with a triple with a little over a minute left in the contest. -