Concentrix hands Sykes its first loss

THE Concentrix Converters handed the Sykes Pioneers its first taste of defeat, 88-83, in the Elite Classic division of the City Sports Club-Cebu’s (CSCC) E-Leagues for Basketball 2019 at the CSCC basketball court on Saturday, September 28.

The Converters put up an imposing defensive stand against the reigning champs as they held the Pioneers to just nine points in the second canto to erect a 42-28 lead at halftime. More impressively, Concentrix held Sykes’ superstar Janjan Auditor to a mere two points in the entire game.

Mark Bacho led the Converters with 16 points, Lourenz Limpangog had 12 while John Encarnacion had 11 markers to help them even their record up at 5-5.

Earldred Montilla picked up scoring slack for Sykes with 17 points while Victor Rabat had 11 as the Pioneers dropped to 8-1.

Meanwhile, as impressive as the Converters’ win was, the performance of Nino Belande might be even more as the left-handed guard racked up arguably the most remarkable triple-double in league history in the Fusion BPO Dragons’ 117-71 victory over the ePerformax Reds.

Belande had 24 points, 17 rebounds and an eye-popping 19 assists to help get the Dragons’ record up to 5-4. Roy Quiachon Jr. also had a double-double with 28 points and 13 rebounds for Fusion BPO.

The Teleperformance Vipers also grabbed a 72-58 win over the Wipro Tigers to bump their record up to 6-4. Kenz Hernandez had 24 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals while Mon Dico produced 16 points and 19 rebounds in the easy win.

The Dreamscape Lions beat the QBE Generals, 83-70, as their dynamic duo of Matt Oche and Ralph Belarmino tallied double-doubles. Oche had 27 points and 15 boards while Belarmino had 20 points and 10 boards to help the Lions roar to their fourth win in nine games.

The lone Evo League game saw Fluor edge Cognizant, 68-67. (SunStar Cebu)