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Tuesday, December 03, 2002
Cruz lifts John-O over LBC in PBL
Celino Cruz drilled in eight of his 10 points in the crucial final three minutes to ward off LBC-Batangas Blades, 79-67, yesterday beefing up John-O’s semifinal hopes in the 2002 PBL Challenge at the Pasig Sports Center.
The win improved John-O’s record to 4-4, keeping their hopes alive in the upper bracket of the second elimination phase.
The Blades fell to 4-3 and must hurdle their match against Dazz on Thursday to formally join front running Welcoat Paints and Blu All-Purpose in the upper bracket.
Each team will face their group mates in a single round robin. The top three in the upper bracket will automatically qualify for the crossover semis, but the fourth team will have to face the top team in the lower bracket for the wildcard entry.
“We’re still in contention, we’ll just have to wait for the outcome of the coming games if we’ll make it to the upper bracket or be relegated in the lower group,” said John-O coach Dong Vergeire.
Trailing as many as 16, 45-61, Batangas Blades turned to Al Magpayo and Alex Compton for a 14-4 fourth quarter salvo capped by Nicole Uy’s trey to trim the gap to a hairline, 64-65, 2:57 remaining in the game.
But John-O stepped up on defense, allowing the rivals to score only on Compton’s triple in the ensuing play.
Cruz, together with Ricky Calimag, finished off the rivals with a 14-3 blast down the stretch.
Ranidel de Ocampo topped John-O with 20 points and eight rebounds while Mark Macapagal added 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Compton led LBC-Batangas with 16 points, four rebounds and eight assists. Nicole Uy backed him up with 15 points while Magpayo added 14 points and 11 rebounds.
John-O (79) – De Ocampo20, Macapagal14, Calimag11, Cruz10,Vergara6, Cayabyab5, Olaguer4, Neo4, Rivera3,Napa2,Bat-og 0 , Ferrer 0. LBC-Batangas (67) – Compton 16, Uy 15, Magpayo 14, Roldan 6, Baguion 5, Reguera 4, Sta. Cruz 3, San Diego 2, Capati 2, Al de Castro 0, Manabat 0, Ar. De Castro 0. Quaterscores: 19-18;41-30;61-50;79-67 |
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