Lakers close in on quarterfinals slot

LIPA CITY — FedEx Laguna leaned on the heroics of Biboy Simon to get past Davao, 105-90, yesterday in the Metropolitan Basketball Association First Phase at the Sentrum De La Salle here.

Simon, one of the hottest shooters in the league, fired 26 points, 15 of them coming in the opening quarter where the Lakers pulled away en route to their fifth win in 11 games.

The victory gave the Lakers more distance from their closest pursuers for fifth and last slot in the quarterfinals.

The Eagles dropped to 2-9. They must now sweep their last three games and hope that the Lakers lose all their remaining assignments to forge a playoff for the No. 5 slot.

Simon had two triples in the first quarter as the Lakers raced to an early 28-10 lead. Junel Mendiola then came off the bench to score nine points and lead Laguna to its biggest lead at 56-30.

The Eagles, however, managed to threaten at 84-91 in the final quarter. But Simon once again stepped in, hitting his fourth triple of the game to spark an 8-2 Laguna counter-attack heading into the final two minutes.

Chris Clay and Mendiola chipped in 23 and 17 points, respectively, for the Lakers, who bounced back from a 100-105 loss to San Juan last Friday.