Lexmark, Calltek bomb out rivals

CEBU, Philippines - The Lexmark Stallions and the Calltek Trojans easily dumped their respective rivals in the continuing action of the 9th CSCC E-League for Basketball at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.

Lexmark bucked off a lukewarm start to blow away the listless Talleco Bandits, 78-57, while Calltek was in full command from start to finish to whip the Kyocera Frontiers, 52-40. In the other game of a featured triple-header, the struggling Tesltra-Teletech Titans won by default over the SSI Warriors.

Lexmark and Calltek, thus, are now tied in the overall standings with 8-2 win-loss records. Talleco crashed to its ninth straight loss in as many starts, while Kyocera slumped to its eight defeat against only one victory.

Jake Pia paced Lexmark with 18 points followed by Niel Tiempo with 12 points, four rebounds and two steals.

Franco Angelo Cipriano added 11 points, 10 rebounds, five steals, four blocks and two assists in an all-around show for Lexmark, which got off to a slow start resulting in a six-point deficit, 13-19, after the first 10 minutes of play.

But Lexmark swiftly gained its offensive bearing in the second period where they made a 20-10 run to grab the lead at halftime, 33-19, for good. The Stallions sustained their momentum in the remainder of the match capped by a 24-11 blitz in the windup that iced the 21-point blowout.

Mark Matidios led Talleco with 15 points, five rebounds, five blocks and three assists, while Ronald Tabtabo scored 13 in a losing cause.

On the other hand, Christian Judilla torched 15 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals for Calltek, which dictated the pace of the match after coasting to a 31-23 halftime lead. Jan Pierre Gellez backed up Judilla with 13 points, six rebounds, three blocks, two assists and two steals.

Winston Stephen Panal was the lone double-digit scorer for Kyocera with 11 points, six rebounds and two steals. (FREEMAN)