Caida Tiles secures twice-to-beat; Foton wins 2nd straight

MANILA, Philippines – Caida Tiles walloped Sta. Lucia, 90-79, on Thursday night to secure a twice-to-beat advantage heading to the quarterfinal round of the PCBL Founders Cup  at the JCSGO Gym.

Foton, on the other hand, notched its first back-to-back victories in the tournament, outlasting Kama Motors in a tightly-fought match, 87-84, making the race for the top four more exciting.

The Tile Masters used a telling 15-2 run in the fourth quarter to turn the tables on the Realtors and turn a 64-60 deficit to a 75-66 advantage off a fastbreak basket by Gio Jalalon with still 4:26 left in the fourth period.

But Caida held on down the stretch to pick up its seventh win in nine games with still a game to go left on its schedule before heading to the quarterfinal playoff phase.

Still holding the solo lead, the Tile Masters are already assured of a twice-to-beat and head coach Mike Buendia is happy to reach their goal in this tournament supported by Ambucore, Accel, Spalding and Aquabest.

“That’s really our objective, to get the twice-to-beat,” said Buendia. “We don’t know whether we end up at No.1 or No.2, but we’re happy to get the twice-to-beat.”

Billy Robles led the way for Caida with 22 points followed by ex-pro Marvin Hayes with 15. Jalalon chipped in 10.

Foton relied on Allan Mangahas’ clutch performance to outlast Kama Motors in the other game. It was the third win in nine games for the Toplander while snapping their rivals’ two-game winning streak.

On the brink of an endgame collapse after squandering an 18-point lead, Mangahas came to his team’s rescue as he knocked down a backbreaking trey in the last 42 seconds that shattered the game’s final deadlock and gave the Toplander an 85-82 lead.

Mark Montuano had a chance to knot the count after a 3-point play opportunity at the other end but failed to complete it when he missed the bonus charity shot. In the next play, Foton went to Levi Hernandez, who missed a trey attempt, but Ed Rivera came out of nowhere to snatch the rebound and Kama was forced to give up a foul. Rivera capped his heroics by sinking both charities for the final tally.

The scores:

First Game

CAIDA TILES (90) – Robles 22, Hayes 15, Jalalon 10, Corpuz 9, Lozada 8, Gabawan 7, Almario 7, Ruaya 6, Maiquez 4, Leynes 2, Terso 0, Jamon 0, Rios 0.

SANTA LUCIA (79) – Escosio 12, Salado 10, Camasura 9, Montilla 8, Vidal 8, Bautista 8, Gabriel 8, Onwubere 6, Ilagan 4, Celiz 4, Ablaza 2, Wetherell 0, Castanarez 0.

Quarterscores: 18-16, 39-45, 58-58, 90-79.

Second Game

FOTON (87) – Mangahas 21, Gomez 19, Hernandez 18, Rivera 15, Nacpil 12, Reyes 2, Rosaroso 0, Enriquez 0, Juruena 0.

KAMA MOTORS (84) – Lingganay 21, Cabrera 17, Cawaling 15, Argamino 13, Ludovice 6, Ambulodto 6, Montuano 4, Calisaan 2, Lunor 0, Saitanan 0.

 Quarterscores: 26-17, 45-30, 61-57, 87-84.