Jumbo Plastic makes PCBL mark with big decision over Cagayan

MANILA, Philippines - Jumbo Plastic rolled to its fourth straight win with a 102-89 thumping of Cagayan, becoming the first team to hit the century mark in the fledgling PCBL Founders Cup at the JCSGO gym in QC Tuesday night.

Ex-PBA player James Martinez fired 22 points on an 8-of-11 shooting from the field while working alongside backcourt partner Jeff Viernes, who added 21 markers, as they outplayed their counterparts to power the team to its fourth victory after dropping their opening day match.

“We have an advantage in having former pros but we need to have chemistry. I also want to divide the minutes to give exposure to all players,” said Jumbo coach Stevenson Tiu.

 The loss was the Rising Suns’ third in five matches in the tournament supported by Spalding, Ambucore, Accel and Aquabest.

From a close match, the Linoleum Masters pulled away late with Viernes capping a big run with a fastbreak that gave his team a 90-73 lead with 5:10 left in the contest.

The Rising Suns never recovered from there.

In the other game, Supremo Lex pulled off a stunning 80-79 upset over Euro-Med as the Builders notched its first win after dropping its first four games.

The loss was the third straight for Euro-Med, which paraded new recruits Pari Llagas and Paul Zamar but who failed to provide the needed firepower and poise in the stretch.