Teeth Sparklers seize solo lead

Kutitap Toothpaste outsteadied Montana Pawnshop in the homestretch and pulled off a 68-60 victory to grab the solo lead in the PBL Chairman’s Cup at the Makati Coliseum last night.

Cyrus Baguio, Nino Gelig and Alan Salangsang scored the baskets that mattered most as the Teeth Sparklers notched their fifth win in six matches, relegating the Ateneo Hapee Eagles to second with a 4-1 card.

"It’s pure hardwork and mental toughness," said coach Coy Banal after his Teeth Sparklers dealt the Jewellers a fifth loss against a lone win.

Earlier, Ismael Junio exploded with a career-high 37 points as he powered Shark Energy Drink to an 87-60 rout of sister team Blu Sun Power. It was Shark’s second straight win following four successive defeats.

Ana Freezers easily warded off RP Youth-Burlington, 108-73, for its fourth win against three defeats in the first game.

Emmerson Oreta topscored with 15 points while Ronald Tubid and Cebuano James Laygo added 14 apiece for the Freezer Kings, who kept the RP Juniors winless in four starts.

Ana not only earned a telling 43 points on fastbreaks but likewise netted 16 on offensive rebounds and translated RP-Burlington’s 33 turnovers into 41 points.

But unlike their past games, the RP Juniors showed more guts behind Jonathan Fernandez, Jobe Nkemakolam, Mark Tayer and Claiford Arao as they gave the Freezer Kings some headaches in the first half.

Fernandez scattered 11 of his 14 points in the second quarter while Tayer drilled in three straight baskets as RP-Burlington trimmed a 22-47 deficit to just 15 points, 39-54, at the half.

But that was the best they could do. Tubid sprayed 10 points in the third period as he joined Dondon Mendoza and Paul Artadi in a breakaway that posted the Freezer Kings’ biggest lead at 39 points, 94-55, 6:11 left in the game.