EcoOil-La Salle tallied the most lopsided win ever in the PBA D-League after blasting AMA by 83 points, 126-43, on Thursday night at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig. The Green Archers set the tone early on by racing to a 42-10 lead against the Titan at the end of the first quarter. EcoOil-La Salle sealed the record-setting win by holding AMA to just two points in the fourth quarter. Assistant coach Gian Nazario, though, said eclipsing the previous record winning margin of 76 set by the Tanduay Rhum Masters against the Zark’s Jawbreakers in 2017 was not on the Green Archers’ mind. “Well, hindi naman namin iniisip ‘yung (we were not thinking about the) record. It’s good that we eclipsed it but we just focused on getting better. It’s an opportunity for us to get better and we talked about it before the game na ‘wag naming pipiliin ‘yung kalaban namin (we should not pick our opponents),” Nazario said. Ben Phillips and Raven Cortez each scored 19 points to power EcoOil-La Salle, which tied Marinerong Pilipino-San Beda for first place in the team standings at 4-1. Earl Ceniza and Reed Baclig scored 10 each for AMA, which wound up their campaign with a 0-6 record. In the first game, Centro Escolar University (CEU) survived two overtimes to edge Philippine Sports Performance (PSP), 109-107. Ron Tolentino won it for the Scorpions after scoring the game-winning three with 18 seconds left in the second extension as they frustrated the Gymers, who failed to close them out in regulation. “Wala na ‘yung Xs and Os dito eh (There is no more Xs and Os here). It’s all about heart. And hats off to our players for not giving up. Hindi sila sumuko (They didn’t give up) against a veteran team like PSP,” said CEU coach Jeff Perlas, whose team could get a shot at stealing an outright semifinal spot if they beat Marinerong Pilipino-San Beda next Thursday. Franz Ray Diaz scattered 21 points with five rebounds and seven assists to show the way for the Scorpions while Tolentino finished with 20-points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals. Mark Meneses collared 22 points, grabbed 21 rebounds, three steals and six blocks while Wendell Comboy had 19 for the Gymers, who slid to 2-4 but is assured of a quarterfinals spot.
Source: Philippines News Agency