Toyota-Bacolod launched its bid for the title with a strong finish against Ink Cream, 91-75, as Watchmen Daily Journal got away with a 104-97 win against Bad Boys as action heats up in the 1st PROBAC/LNA 7 Invitational Basketball Tournament at the West Negros University Gym, Friday night.

Taking the half at 37-31, Toyota-Bacolod posted its biggest margin at 26 points in the third quarter as Allan Jaena exploded with 15 points and Marco Avecilla with 10 points.

Ink Cream tried to recover some lost grounds in the payoff period with a 29-19 run, but Toyota was well on its way to secure its first victory in the tournament.

Aside from Jaena and Avecilla, Amit Teruel and Primitivo Hisona registered a good performance with 12 points each, while Joebert Pastias tallied 9, Rico Cabatu added 7, Kempee Lagrason contributed 6 points, Antoni Espinos with 4, while Tony Agustin, Troy Sarabia and Henry Subebe finished with 3 points each, and Vince Lacson and Jack Tumayan with 2 points apiece.

Teodoro Lara topscored for Ink Cream with 16 points, Panoy Baron chipped in 14, Luigi Herrera had 13, Leandro Francisco delivered 7 points, while Aljin Araneta, Michael Chan and Shem Claridad had 6 points each, and Jay Agulan with 3 points.

In the other game, Watchmen dribblers turned back the Bad Boys in a high-scoring ballgame after a 54-45 halftime tally.

Asserting their dominance at the start of the game with a 30-25 lead as the tandem of Pril Gacho JM Gonzales scored 12 and 8 points, respectively, Watchmen refused to yield even as the Bad Boys threatened to grab the momentum in the second half.

With Philip Famucol hitting 16 points and PaoPao Lim adding six, the Bad Boys outscored WDJ, 28-21 in the third quarter. Watchmen, however held on to a two-point lead at 75-73 going into the fourth quarter.

Keeping their composure up to the last stretch, Watchmen turned back the Bad Boys as Quilantang and Alisbo combined for 20 points.

Quilantang led WDJ with 19 points, Gacho tallied 18, Alisbo added 15 points, Cesar Tan finished 12, Gonzales and Mananquil ended up 8 points each,while Leo Mabesa had 7 points.

Bad Boys was led by Famucol with 24 points while Richie Militante hit 23, RenRen Lacson delivered 17 points, Raymond scored 12, and Lim, 8 points.*NAB

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