Dishing out another superb game, RB Chua scored 22 points to lead Huminova Tigers past Basecom, 85-80, as the Tigers grabbed the top spot in the Fil-Sino All Asian Countertrade Inc. 2nd Conference Tuesday night at the University of St. La Salle Coliseum.

Complementing Chua’s consistent performance was teammate Romar Desusa, who finished with 20 points including the basket that mattered in the crucial stages in the payoff quarter.

Taking control early in the first quarter, the Tigers built a five-point lead, 20-15, behind Chua’s 13 points.

Basecom stepped up in the second quarter and managed to wrest the lead as Ronald Arabia and Denson Lim combined for 20 points, but Desusa got hot in the perimeter as he delivered 11 points while Kieron Tan added 6 to regain the advantage at halftime, 42-45.

But there was more fight left in Basecom as Toffel Tan unleashed 9 points for a hairline 59-58 margin at the end of third quarter as the Tigers missed some scoring opportunities.

The final chapter saw the Tigers registering an 8-2 run and Basecom responding with its own 6-0 attack.

The Tigers made a conscious effort on driving to the basket to keep lead in the final minutes with Tim Garrucho and Greggy Galang delivering treys.

With eight seconds left and the score pegged at 83-80 in favor of the Tigers, Basecom’s Omar Galunan missed an open triple allowing Robbie Jalando-on to ice the game from the free throw line.

In the first game, JSY Transport bounced back from its opening day loss to beat AACI Trading, 94-87.

JSY was enjoying a 10-point cushion, 81-71 in the fourth quarter when AACI Transport embarked on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to a point.

Keeping their composure, JSY went to Fr. Clarence Canape and Kenderson Hao who stymied the rally with layups to extend the lead to 85-80.

With JSY up front, AACI Transport missed a golden chance to narrow the lead as crucial points were wasted from the free throw line as the game went down to a free throw shooting contest.

JSY Jollie Castillo missed a couple of charity shots in the final minutes but managed to redeem himself in the ensuing by converting two free throws with 13.9 seconds left.

Earlier, AACI Transport offset the height advantage of JSY to take a 25-20 lead behind Mark Binguan’s four triples and Biboy Yap’s 6 points. JSY frontcourt men Mark Yanson and Angel Rodriguez delivered 10 and 8 points, respectively.

A balance offensive by JSY led by Kenderson Hao resulted to a 71-63 lead in the third quarter even as Richard Co scored 8 points and Richard Militante added 6 for AACI.

Hao had a gamehigh 22 points while Mark Yanson finished with 15 and Matthew Yap 13 for JSY.

Ritche Militante tallied 21 points for AACI Trading, Mark Binguan scored 20, Richard Co 14, and Biboy Yap added 11.

Today’s first game at USLS pits Basecom against Chemisolutions Inc. the latter fresh from the Monday night’s victory over Sweet Crystal Sugar.

AACI Farms, which beat AACI Trading, 91-83, will slug it out against Huminova Tigers in the second game.*with reports from Stephen Tan

back to top

Tigers grab solo lead in Fil-Sino basketball
All set for Growee Park Volley
Fun Bowl action resumes tonight
Lessons in Jones Cup for RP Team