Maynilad routs Metrotiles, gains lead in ABL

MANILA, Philippines - Coach Mark Herrera’s Maynilad crushed erstwhile unbeaten Metrotiles, 76-63, to keep their front-running position with four wins in Division A of the ABL tournament last weekend at the North Greenhills gym.

The Maynilad team upped its win-loss record to 4-1 to pace the six-team tournament, dropping Metrotiles to joint second with Dub Shop on similar 3-1 win-loss slates, followed by Dasmariñas (2-1), Kamayan Coast (2-2-) and Katialis (0-4).

PJ Barua, JR Taganas, Von Lanete, Cris Diputado, Rommel David, Dennis Lim, JR Arcua, Jeck Castillo, Billy Afable and Harold Basilio gave Maynilad of president Ricky Vargas, vice president Roy Evalle and team manager Erico Lopez a balanced offensive as they led their opponents by as many as 19 points they protected with consummate ease till the final buzzer.

“This is a good win for our team,” said Herrera, also head coach of 5-peat Jr. PBA champion Talk N Text and the under-13 national team.

“These boys have been playing hard and they deserve to come up with the win,” he added.

Herrera is assisted by Benjie Diswe and Edwin Ancheta.