Blue Devils rout Reds in duel of unbeaten teams in CSCC E-League

CEBU, Philippines- The Convergys 2 Blue Devils turned to a sizzling offensive in the windup to crush the ePerformax Reds, 75-57, and stay as the only undefeated team in the 10th CSCC E-League men's basketball tournament last Sunday at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.

As expected, the battle between the two unbeaten squads went close, but only in the first three quarters as Convergys 2 unleashed a devastating endgame attack to rip ePerformax apart.

Eperformax actually led by two points going into the final 10-minute mark of the contest, 48-46, but Convergys 2 detonated a 29-9 bomb to settle the issue.

Clifford Amarado churned out 21 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals for Convergys 2. Sherwin Resilla pumped in 18 points, six rebounds, and two assists, while Joselito Aranda contributed 12 markers laced with five assists, five rebounds and two steals as the Blue Devils assumed the solo leadership in Division 2 with an unblemished 5-0 record.

Robert Gilo and Joey Mari de Guzman each scored 10, but neither of them could find an extinguisher to the Blue Devils' huge fourth-quarter explosion. No other player netted twin figures for ePerformax Red, which saw its five-game winning roll come to a sudden red stop.

On the other hand, the Accenture Sharks overcame a huge endgame collapse to escape past the Telstra Boomerangs, 64-55. They built a comfortable 19-point lead, 53-34, using a 23-8 blitz in the third period, then deftly quelled a spirited resistance by Telstra towards the end of the match to preserve a nine-point victory.

Ryan Edward Llanos charted 20 points, three steals and two assists, while Ildefonso Bulangis, Jr. added 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals for Accenture, which joined Convergys 1 Wolves at second place in Division 1 with identical 5-1 win-loss cards.

San Jordan Hermosa, a former star player of the University of San Carlos Warriors, had a monster double-double show of 23 points and 18 rebounds, but his efforts proved futile as Telstra suffered its fifth loss in six starts.

In other games, ex-Southwestern University Cobra Niño Belande sparkled with 29 points spiked with 14 rebounds, eight assists and two steals in an all-around hardcourt brilliance that vaulted the Supportsave Dragons to a 74-58 triumph over the Job Target Bandits, while Robert Espinoza chalked up 22 points and six rebounds to power the SSI Warriors to a 76-69 drubbing of the Xerox Knights.

Christian Aquino added 12 points as Supportsave bettered its win-loss records to 5-3, while Job Target, which drew 36 points combined from Karl Jose Buena and Mark Matidios, absorbed its fifth loss against only one win.

Two other players in Dennis Noel Poquita and Kevin Sindayen figured prominently as SSI tallied its fifth victory in seven games. Poquita chipped in 16 points, five steals and four assists, while Sindayen finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and four steals to bring heavy damage on Xerox. Earvin Ferraren had 14 points and 14 rebounds, issued three steals and as many assists and blocks but his stellar show went to waste as Xerox dropped to a 3-3.  — /EBV) (FREEMAN)