SMB-RP clobbers Jordan in Brunei

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN–The San Miguel-RP Team taught the Jordan All-Stars a neat lesson in basketball, fashioning out a 107-67 rout to complete a sweep of its elimination round stint in the sixth Shell Rimula Brunei Cup at the National Indoor Stadium here.

With Renren Ritualo firing four three-pointers and Asi Taulava dominating the paint in the opening quarter, the Filipinos set the tone for the expected rout early.

Wesley Gonzales, Danny Seigle and Olsen Racela took over in the next quarter and the Nationals pulled away at 42-26.

Dorian Peña, Niño Canaleta and Mick Pennisi had their hands full as the Filipinos widened the gap, 62-35, at the half.

Finishing at the top after five games, the unbeaten San Miguel-RP Team face the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia All-Stars in the crossover semifinals today while the SK Knights clash with the Darwin All-Stars in the other match where the winners advance to the finals.

Barangay Ginebra yielded to the Darwin All-Stars, 81-76, and bowed out of contention along with the Jordanians featuring their junior national team.

"I hope we sustain our sharpness. The reason why we wanted to have a big lead is for us to rest the starters for the semifinals,’’ said SMB-RP coach Chot Reyes.

After a Gonzales’ triple made it 79-42, the Filipinos just went through the motion with Canaleta beginning to display several picture-perfect dunks, including a windmill slam in a fast-break play that wowed the predominantly overseas Filipino crowd.

"We haven’t really played our best yet. We struggled against Ginebra and the other teams. Now we played a team which was overmatched,’’ said Reyes.

By the time the Jordanians threw in the towel, the Filipinos were already protecting a 98-51 spread with almost everybody tired of waiting for the final outcome.

Ritualo made seven of his 11 attempts from beyond the arc and paced the Filipinos with 23 points after a dismal 0-of-6 three-point shooting against the Gin Kings.

Peña compiled double-double figures with 15 points and 13 rebounds, Gonzales had 12 points while Pennisi and Taulava added 11 points each.