John-O rips Nutri-licious, shares lead

Emmerson Oreta churned out 20 points while four others — Ricky Calimag, Ranidel de Ocampo, Mark Macapagal and Celino Cruz — also scored in double figures as John-O blasted Nutri-licious, 103-84, yesterday in the Sunkist-PBL 2003 Unity Cup at the Pasig Sports Center.

Calimag delivered a double-double performance with 18 points and 10 rebounds while De Ocampo spiked his 27 minutes of play with 15 points and seven rebounds.

Macapagal and Cruz fired two triples apiece as they added 14 and 10 points, respectively, for John-O, which now shares the top spot in the NCR division with idle ICTSI with identical 2-1 slates.

Hapee Toothpaste repulsed Blu Star’s rousing fourth quarter rally for a 65-53 victory that installed them the league leader in the second game.

The Juicers took their second consecutive defeat as they dropped to the cellar of the Luzon group with a 1-2 record.

Nutri-licious kept pace early in the game with a split by Irvin Sotto off Oreta tying the count at 36, 5:36 left in the second period.

Oreta then sparked a 17-3 blast to pull John-O away, 53-39, just 31.7 seconds left before the half.

John-O further pressured the rivals in the second half as Calimag joined Oreta in the assault that further widened the gap to a biggest 20 points, 93-73, 3:23 left in the game.

The best the Juicer could do was trim the gap down to 13, 84-97, with 55.7 seconds to go.

John-O also dominated the boards, 46-33 — a big factor why Vergeire’s wards also earned 12 points on offensive rebounds and translated the rivals 19 turnovers into 15 points.

Nelbert Omolon topped Nutri-licious with 20 points and four rebounds while Ismael Junio delivered 19 points including five treys.

Sotto and Michael Gonzales added 15 and 11 points respectively.