Giants dim Suns; Elite rip R’backs

MANILA, Philippines - Jan Colina hit clutch triple and Denice Villamor dished off a key assist as Jumbo Plastic squeaked past Cagayan Valley, 70-64, to tie Cebuana Lhuillier at second in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup at the JCSGO Gym in Cubao, Quezon City yesterday.

Colina’s trey shoved the Giants to a 65-64 lead in the last 68 seconds then after Lord Casajeros missed a short jumper at the other end, Villamor drew three defenders on top of the key and quickly fed the open Jason Ballesteros underneath for an easy lay-in that sealed the victory for the Giants.

The Rising Suns dropped to 2-4.

In the other game, Blackwater Sports used a strong second half to blast Hog’s Café, 89-74, to improve to 3-2.

The Elite outscored the Razorbacks, 31-12, in the third quarter to seize control and nail their third straight win.

A commotion actually took place after the final buzzer as Cagayan’s Jason Melano punched Colina then ran off to their dugout. Cooler heads intervened to prevent the incident from escalating.

“It’s unfortunate this thing has happened. Both sides played well but it was marred by that ugly incident,” said Jumbo Plastic coach Steveson Tiu.

“But we need this kind of game. Hopefully this will help build our confidence, momentum and rhythm going into our game with NLEX tomorrow,” added Tiu.

Jerrick Canada scored 14 points while Elliot Tan and Jeff Viernes had 13 markers apiece for the Giants, who had won four straight.

With Ballesteros grabbing 10 rebounds, Jumbo Plastic dominated the boards, 48-38, and enjoyed a 28-18 edge on points in the paint.

Both teams appeared rusty after the Holy Week break leading to a low-scoring first quarter that ended with Jumbo Plastic ahead, 10-9.

The Rising Suns picked up their rhythm in the second quarter and took a 26-17 lead on a jumper by Kenneth Ighalo.

They were still up 41-37 midway in the third, when Canada hit successive treys and Mike Parala sank a 15-footer for a 45-43 Giants lead.

Jett Vidal buried a triple and a jumper as Cagayan Valley regained the lead but the Giants countered and scored five of the last seven points to force a 50-all count heading to the fourth.

Vidal tallied 16 points while Ighalo and Jessie Collado added 11 markers each for Cagayan Valley, which lost two in a row.