Olongapo rips Batangas, tops North

LIPA CITY, Batangas —— Brixter Encarnacion hit the shots that mattered most as Olongapo downed LBC Batangas, 93-78, last night and emerged as North’s top qualifier in the MBA First Conference at the Lipa Youth and Cultural Center here.

The 6-foot-4 Encarnacion canned in an off-balance triple and then drove in to give the Volunteers an 84-71 lead with less than three minutes left. Those points stopped the rallying Blades and handed the Volunteers their seventh win in 10 outings.

More importantly, the Volunteers gained the homecourt and psychological edge on their knockout semifinal game on May 19.

Olongapo also beat LBC Batangas, 90-85, in their first meeting on April 7 at the Olongapo Convention Center. LBC Batangas finished the eliminations at 6-4.

The Volunteers clustered 12 points behind Encarnacion to seize the lead at 20-12 and padded it to 41-25 as Jeffrey Flowers and burly forwards Joel Dualan and Allen Patrimonio pounded the shaded lane.

Alex Compton, however, sparked a comeback by the Blades that put them to within 48-45 at halftime.

Meanwhile, Cebuana Lhuillier closed out its campaign in the First Conference with a vengeful 78-70 victory over RCPI Negros Saturday night at the University of St. La Salle Coliseum in Bacolod City.

The Gems wound up with a 6-4 card, same as that of the Professional Davao Eagles, but were dislodged by the Eagles for the second semifinal slot in the Southern Conference. The Gems beat the Eagles by four points (107-103) in their first meeting, but lost by 18 (97-75) in their second encounter.

Cebuana Lhuillier yielded to RCPI Negros, 96-91, in their first encounter at the Cebu Coliseum on April 20.

Buboy Rodriguez led the Gems in exacting revenge over the Slashers, their traditional rivals, with a game-high 23 points and five rebounds and earned best player honors.

Despite their third defeat in 10 games, the Slashers still emerged as top qualifier and gained the homecourt advantage when they meet the Engles in their Southern Conference knockout semifinal on May 18.