Pharma Quick nails first victory

Pharma Quick finally barged into the win column last night, beating a fumbling Ateneo-Pioneer Squad, 69-54, in the PBL Challenge Cup before a sparse crowd at the Makati Coliseum.

Welcoat turned back Hapee Toothpaste, 62-56, for its second straight win in the second game.

It was the first victory after four straight losses for the Pharmacists, whose choking defense held the Blue Eagles scoreless in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter with a woeful overall shooting clip of 31 percent (19-of-63).

The Pharmacists lost their first four outings -- to Blu Sun Power, Shark Energy Drink, Ana Freezer and Welcoat by -- an average margin of 15.1 points. But these string of failures hardly showed in their game against the Blue Eagles.

After taking a shaky 36-30 halftime lead, the Pharmacists turned to Mark Macapagal, Mico Roldan and John Alfad in breaking the game wide open, 44-32. They never allowed the Blue Eagles to recover the rest of the way.

The Blue Eagles had their two-game winning streak snapped as they fell to a 2-3 record in a tie with Ana Freezer. Ateneo lost its first two games to Shark and Blu before beating Welcoat, 49-47, and La Salle-Osaka, 62-60.

"Nag-step up ang mga players ko sa defense and, given enough time, I think this team can be of championship caliber," said coach Bernard Fabiosa after his first victory for the new PBL franchise owned by businessman-sportsman Sandy Javier.

The Pharmacists committed more turnovers, 29-23, but made up for this with a better shooting clip of 49 percent (26-of-55), more rebounds, 41-33, and more fastbreak points, 14-4.

After trailing by a dozen points, the Blue Eagles made a run at the Pharmacists, closing the gap at 45-51 behind the hits of Enrico Villanueva and Edrick Ferrer. Pharma Quick went into the fourth quarter protecting a 55-47 lead. – With reports from Joey Villar