Scorpions edge Maroons, stay unscathed

MANILA, Philippines - Centro Escolar edged University of the Philippines, 69-67, to maintain its clean slate in the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup yesterday at the Arena in San Juan.

Rod Ebondo banged in 20 points and hauled down 16 rebounds while Alfred Batino chipped in 19 markers as the Scorpions, the reigning NAASCU titlists, stormed to their third straight win in Group C.

JR Gallarza fired 20 points and grabbed eight boards to pace UP, which dropped to 1-2. The Fighting Maroons also drew 12 points from rookie Diego Dario.

Emilio Aguinaldo College improved to 2-1 after drubbing Holy Trinity College, 79-69, while St. Clare broke into the win column after a 111-9 victory over the Philippine Under-18 team.

Jack Arquero and rookie Ariel Aguilar led the way for EAC with 16 and 13, respectively, as the Generals pulled off the win despite committing 24 turnovers against the winless Wildcats (0-4).

“Sabi ko sa mga player kung pwede ibaon na nila agad. Kaso hindi. Binigyan pa ng kumpiyansa (I told them to seize a big lead and break the morale of the opponents but it didn’t happen. We allowed them to gain confidence as the game progress),” said EAC coach Gerry Esplana.

The Generals raced to an 18-5 upperhand in the opening period but HTC, with Meylan Landicho and Chris Magaslang presiding over their run and gun game, the Wildcats crawled back into life and stayed within striking distance.

In the end, the  Generals quashed the Wildcats’ uprisings.

“A win is a win but ang nakakapanghinayang ay yung unforced errors kasi kapag ganun, sarili mo na lang kalaban mo (we have to remedy the unforced errors that slowed us down this game),” said Esplana.

The Saints’ 6-foot-5 Cameroonian player Redoh Fabien spearheaded a lethal 28-7 bomb to sway the game to their favor. Fabien scored 10 of his 26 markers in that exchange, doing the damage in the inside while Jason Ibay and Marte Gil, who finished with 17 apiece, took care of business from the perimeter.