Blades overpower Slashers, bag MBA crown

BACOLOD City — The LBC Batangas Blades tore the Negros Slashers’ defense to shreds with a sleek running game in the first half then hung tough with clutch shots in the final quarter to fashion out a 94-75 victory and bag the MBA national crown last night.

That they did the feat at the Slashers’ turf at the USLS gym here spoke well of the character of the Blades, who bounced back from a 71-80 loss in the third game Sunday to wrap up the best-of-five series, 3-1.

After getting shackled by the Slashers and jeered by the hostile home crowd in Game 3, Tony Boy Espinosa erupted for 21 points, including 17 in the first two quarters that set the tone for the rout.

So overpowering were the Blades that they gave their rivals little chance to come back from double-digit deficits with impeccable shooting and tough defensive game.

Alex Compton and Romel Adducul joined Espinosa in spearheading the Blades’ breakaway in the early going, hitting the treys and knocking in jumpshots from the perimeter and underneath as the visiting squad roared to a 50-28 bulge at the turn.

The Blades then thwarted the Slashers’ repeated rallies in the fourth period to humble their more experienced rivals on their first championship appearance and kept the Northern Conference tradition of winning all four MBA diadems.

The closest that the Slashers could get was at 59-67 early in the fourth behind John Ferriols and Reynel Hugnatan. But the hosts failed to sustain that momentum and self-destructed down the stretch, enabling the Blades to coast to a trouble-free victory.

"The key here is that we had a good start and that is enough to silence the crowd," said LBC Batangas coach Nash Racela.

With Espinosa and Adducul on the firing end, the Blades roared to a 26-17 lead in the first quarter, then Compton and Ralph Rivera joined the fray in the second, lifting the team to a 47-23 lead.

The Slashers played catch-up from there and failed to come through with a strong finishing kick they dished out in Game Three.