MANILA, Philippines -- Carlo Lastimosa scored a career-high 30 points and Fruitas bounced back from a 19-point loss to defending champion NLEX with 78-73 victory over Erase Xfoliant on Thursday in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasic City.
The Shakers struggled on both ends without 6-8 Nigerian center Ola Adeogun and needed to grind it out in the stretch to nail their second win in five games. Adeaogun missed his second straight game with a sprained right ankle he sustained in their 64-69 loss against Blackwater Sports last week.
“I told the boys we have to accept the reality that Ola will not be around because he is injured. So I ask for them to commit to win [without Ola]. I’m glad they responded positively,” said Fruitas coach Nash Racela.
Pong Escobal, recruited by Racela to provide leadership the young team, turned in 18 points, including a 3-pointer with 2:51 remaining that tied the game 71-71 and touched off the closing 10-2 run that clinched the game for the Shakers.
“I’m very pleased with our effort considering that we played against a team with two foreign players,” said Racela, who also commended small forward Jan Colina (9 points, 9 rebounds) for his bruising defense.
Marlon Gomez tallied 20 points on 9 of 15 shooting for Fruitas. He had 10 points in the third quarter as he single-handedly carried the fight for the Erasers when Fruitas threatened to pull away. The Erasers tied the Shakers on 2-3 record.
Dave Najorda and Nate Matute each scored 10 points and Bebi Babayemi grabbed 12 rebounds as the Erasers won the battle of the boards, 41-36.
The Erasers appeared to have seized control when Matute hit a 3-pointer then completed a three-point play for a 71-68 lead. But they couldn’t hold on to it, missing their last six attempts while turning the ball over twice in the last three minutes.
Gomez scored his team’s first four field goals as Erase Xfoliant got off to a good start. The Erasers made 10 of 19 shots and led, 26-19, after one quarter. They stretched the lead to 38-28 as the Shakers went scoreless for nearly three minutes at one point in the second quarter.
The Eraser had a 40 30 lead on a basket by Jett Vidal before Escobal and Lastimosa drilled successive threes as Fruitas outscored Erase Xfoliant, 10-2, to cut the deficit to 40-42 at halftime.
The scores:
Fruitas 73 -- Lastimosa 30, Escobal 18, Colina 9, Escueta 8, Dela Rosa 5, Mendoza 2, Pascual 2, Silungan 2, Terso 2, Caram 0, Belleza 0, Paguia 0.
Erase Xfoliant 73 – Gomez 20, Najorda 10, Matute 10, Allen 9, Vidal 9, Babayemi 7, Omorogbe 5, Arboleda 3, Banal 0, Acosta 0, Stevens 0.
Quarters: 19-26, 40-42; 58-60; 78-73