Davies Paints logs win in Don Bosco caging

CEBU, Philippines - Davies Paints quickly bounced back from a previous defeat and vented its ire on Batch 2009, 67-45, in the  continuing action of the Bosconian Basketball Club's Don Bosco Cup last Sunday at the University of San Carlos (USC)-North Campus gym.

Davies Paints was in full control of the match after racing to a 17-10 start. Duane Dale Anino and Azanza then fired four tripes in a 20-11 blast that padded their lead to 16 points at halftime, 37-21.

After an uneventful third quarter, Davies its offensive poise in the final period where it outscored Batch 2009, 22-13, to come up with a 22-point blowout.

In the other games,Superstarred streaked to a close 45-42 win over Amchels, while Plas bested Batch '97, 76-63.

Supestarred took an early 13-2 lead, which they parlayed into a 17-point bulge at the break, 28-11. Amchels staged a daring fightback to pull within just four points after three quarters, 28-32, but Superstarred toiled hard in the windup to squeeze through a three-point escape.

Plas, on the other hand, rode on a blistering third-quarter offensive to gun down Batch '97. They were ahead by only three at the half, 36-33, but suddenly waxed hot after the short break to post an 11-point edge, 56-45, going into the final 10-minute mark of the contest. They never looked back from the onwards.

Superstarred, thus, joined Batch '98 atop the leaderboard with similar 2-0 slates, while Davies paints and Plas are now tied at 1-1 along with Bullvets '94, Amchels, and Batch '95. Batch '97 (0-2) remains as the only winless team in this 10-team tournament, so far.

The participating squads will play in a single round robin format, with the top four teams per bracket advancing into the quarterfinals with twice-to-beat advantage over the lower-ranked qualifiers.

The winners will then proceed into the crossover semifinals wherein the survivors will slug it out for the championship in a best-of-three series, while the losers will fight for third place in a winner-take-all affair. (FREEMAN)