Henkel-Sista, Lhuillier earn quarterfinal tickets

Henkel-Sista and Cebuana Lhuillier scored victories in contrasting fashion over their respective rivals yesterday to advance to the quarterfinal round of the PBL Silver Cup at the Emilio Aguinaldo College Gym.

Conrad Fritz Bauzon drained three triples, including two in the fourth quarter as the Super Sealers held off the Magnolia Spinners, 66-61, to arrange a showdown with the Mail and More Comets tomorrow at the Paranaque Sports Center.

Earlier, Ken Bono sizzled with 26 points while Emer Oreta came off the bench to fire 23 points as the Moneymen trounced the TeleTech side, 81-72, to likewise barge into the quarterfinals against the Harbour Centre Port Masters.

Marcy Arellano came away with 11 points while Khiel Misa and Lawrence Bonus had 10 points apiece for Henkel-Sista, which held Magnolia’s top guns Bonbon Custodio, Yousif Aljamal and Jeff Chan to just nine points to pound out the victory.

Custodio unleashed a season-high 34 points in a 133-128 triple overtime win over Kettle Korn last week while Aljamal and Chan had 27 and 23 points, respectively.

"I have to say that it’s our defense that sealed it," said Henkel-Sista coach Caloy Garcia.

Bono, the reigning UAAP MVP who twice scored 33 points in the collegiate league, teamed up with Oreta in a big third quarter run that keyed the rout for the Moneymen.

"We kept our poise, we were able to execute our plays and we got crucial defensive stops," said Cebuana Lhuillier coach Luigi Trillo.

Bono thus arranged an interesting duel with collegiate rival JC Intal of the Port Masters. Bono and Intal figured in one of the most exciting duels for the MVP award in the UAAP with the former emerging the winner. The Adamson stalwart also clinched the PSA amateur cager award.