Blue Eagles claw Archers; Power Boosters end slump

Rich Alvarez scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, fuelling a searing chase by Hapee Ateneo en route to a 63-57 win over arch rival ICTSI La Salle yesterday in the PBL Chairman’s Cup at the Makati Coliseum.

Hapee Ateneo played the catch-up role most of the way but waged a fiery rally in the payoff quarter, scoring a remarkable come-from-behind victory to seize a share of the lead with idle Kutitap Tootpaste on identical 4-1 win-loss cards.

ICTSI La Salle collapsed under tremendous pressure at endgame and fell to third place in a tie with John-O Juzz at 4-2.

Meanwhile, Challenge Cup titlist Shark Energy Drink finally displayed its old fighting form and blasted Ana Freezers, 86-65, for its first win in five games.

Rysal Castro came up with a double-double outing with 19 points and 10 rebounds while Edward Juinio, Clarence Cole and Gerald Ortiga all added double-digit outputs to lead the lethal Shark attack versus the badly stunned Ana Freezers side.

"Finally, we broke the slump. Bumalik na siguro ang gutom ng team," said coach Leo Austria as his Power Boosters checked their skid, dealing the Freezers Kings their third loss in six outings.

"This win proved that our power is still there. What we need now is the right motivation to keep the team going. Sana tuloy-tuloy na," Austria added.

The Power Boosters played with a heads-up game from start to finish, taking a 50-30 halftime lead which they even padded to 77-44 at the end of the third period.

Shark went 32-of-61 from the field for a 52-percent shooting as against Ana Freezers’ woeful 35-percent mark.