MANILA, Philippines - San Mateo Spurs turned back Say Chiz Smileys as it eked out an 81-80 victory to gain a share of the lead in the first PGBL Willie Caballes Cup at the Rizal Coliseum last Monday.
J.K. Tigerscribes, meanwhile, barged into the win column as it scored a come-from-behind 58-56 win over Charlie’s Dy-mons in the tournament backed by the Philippine Sportswriters Associat++ion, San Miguel Corp. and Burlington.
Joel Orellana of the Business Mirror hit six triples to finish with 20 points while rookie website writer AJ Bolando fired 16 points and 10 rebounds to help propel the Spurs for joint first with the Smileys on 2-1 (win-loss) cards.
Pre-season MVP Eric Uy came through with 14 points, a league-high 10 assists, five rebounds and three steals while Jerome Lagunzad of Malaya had 11 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
Ferdie Rubio came away with 20 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, five steals and five shot blocks but flubbed the last end of charities with no time left that would have forced overtime.
Christian Sevilla also came up with six triples and wound up with a game-high 28 points but Say Chiz missed the services of former Tribune staffers Jon Hernandez and Julius Manicad as it absorbed its first loss after two victories.
Sports Digest’s Karlo Sacamos made up for a late error as he hit a pair of baskets, including the game-winner that helped the Tigerscribes snap out of a two-game skid.
The Dy-mons, paced by Teteng Masigan’s 22 points and Ik Aceson’s 15 points, fell to their second loss against a win.