Fruitas crushes Informatics

MANILA, Philippines - Fruitas used a balanced-scoring and a strong first quarter to pull away for a 106-75 demolition of Informatics to stay in contention for the coveted playoff positions in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup yesterday at the Ynares Arena in Pasig City.

Carlo Lastimosa fired 23 points and Mike Tolomia added 18 as the Shakers arrested a two-game skid and kept their hopes for an outright semifinal berth alive.

“It’s great to be back on the winning track again. Our goal is to clinch an outright semifinal berth but it will be tough. We have to win our three remaining games. We’ll see what happens,” said coach Eric Gonzales, who took over in the absence of head coach Nash Racela.

The Shakers set the tone for the rout by scoring 36 points in the first quarter while holding the Icons to 26.3 percent field goal shooting (5 of 19) during the period.

The winning margin was the third largest this conference. Cagayan Valley holds the record for the most lopsided game – a 98-56 victory also against Informatics last March 26.

In the second game, John Lopez scored with 3.4 seconds remaining to lift Cebuana Lhuillier to a crucial 81-78 victory over Café France.