PLDT, STAR prevail in Coke Invitational

PLDT and The Philippine STAR turned back their respective rivals in varying fashion yesterday to remain unbeaten in the Coke Light Invitational basketball tournament at the Meralco Gym.

Relying on the endgame heroics of Talk N Text consultant Bill Bayno and ex-pro Jay Ramirez, the Phone Pals survived Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.’s serious challenge to hack out an 84-78 win, their second in a row.

The STARmen, on the other hand, drew a big game from Ver Roque as they trounced the Bobby Parks-led Sunkist Juicers, 83-71, to gain a share of the lead with PLDT in this event organized by The STAR president/CEO Miguel Belmonte to foster camaraderie and friendship among their advertisers and partners.

In the other game, Red Bull Barako bounced back from an opening day loss to PLDT last week with a 84-60 bashing of CAR, Inc.

Roque played like a man-possessed as he erupted for 21 points, including a slam dunk in the big fourth quarter blast that sealed the win for The STAR, managed by philstar.com president Kevin Belmonte.

Chris dela Cruz, hero in The STAR’s opening day triumph over CAR, Inc., chipped in 13 points while Roy Canlas and Rene Recto added 10 points apiece.

Bayno and Ramirez, who played for the LBC Batangas Blades in the defunct MBA, hit the shots that mattered most for PLDT as it overcame another sterling performance by Aldrin Morante.

The pint-sized Morante, a former Tanduay standout during his PBL days, torched the Phone Pals with eight triples to finish with 33 points but the Bankers lost steam in the homestretch.

Popular singer/actor Martin Nievera played some quality minutes for PLDT but failed to buy a basket.