Santos Petroleum stays unscathed

Santos Petroleum posted its sixth straight victory while 888 Chinatown finally broke into the win column recently in the National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) D-League presented by Nokia at the St. John’s Institute Activity Center in Bacolod City.

Santos Petroleum routed 888 Chinatown, 129-61, and later also whipped Dumaguete Suy, 113-72, for a 6-0 record in the Bacolod/Dumaguete division of the league under the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.

Orly Pelopero, Rafael Melocoton and Aaron Jeruta combined for 44 points against 888 Chinatown and Pelopero combined with Henry Nograles and Bernie Silvestre for 39 points to down Dumaguete Suy.

Dumaguete Suy posted its fourth win in six outings by beating IEC Computers, 73-60, behind the production of Scott Salvacion and Allen Aguilar, who topscored with 13 points apiece while Ken Banzon had 10 markers.

 IECC, which drew 18 points from Janus Calma, dropped to a 1-5 mark, same as 888 Chinatown.

 Mitzi Banhao had 33 points while Joe Marie Fernandez tallied 15 as 888 Chinatown nipped IEC Computers, 101-97. IECC mustered 25 points from James Golez, 22 from Nico Lopingco and 22 from Calma.

The Nokia NBTC D-League is part of a grassroots program aimed at discovering players for future national teams aside from leagues like the UAAP, NCAA, PBL, PBA and the Liga Pilipinas.

Some of the players from the NBTC D-League will be considered for the Nokia RP Youth team that will compete in the SEABA youth and the 16-and-under FIBA-Asia tournaments.

Players in the NBTC were chosen through talent identification camps and honed with singular training modules to be executed by capable coaches of good moral standing in the community.

The NBTC D-League progresses from inter-city and regional to the national championships.