By Dave Coros
MARK BELO tallied 20 points off the bench as Phoenix Petroleum-Far Eastern University (FEU) dumped University of the Philippines (UP)-Jam Liner, 98-84, on Tuesday in the Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League Aspirants Cup at the Filoil Flying V Arena.
The Accelerators had another poor start but got their acts together in no time to clinch their third straight win and tied idle Caida Tiles and CaféFrance on top of the leaderboard.
They went down to business with seven minutes left in the opening quarter, clawing back with a balanced scoring and defensive hustle that held the Fighting Maroons to four-of-16 shooting in the second quarter.
“It happened again. We played sloppy in the early goings. That’s why i sued for time three minutes into the game to call their attention. I thought they responded well after that,” Phoenix Petroleum-FEU Coach Eric Gonzales said.
“We might be champions, but this is another league. We have to respect every opponent,” he added.
Staring at a 12-point deficit, the Accelerators went down to business from the time Belo checked in to the game. He made seven quick points to spark a 19-12 run capped by a couple of three from Alfredo Tamsi that pulled them within five after one quarter.
They continued to dominate in the second, opening the quarter with a 13-0 blast that put them ahead to stay. Phoenix Petrolium-FEU outscored UP-Jam Liner, 34-13, in the second quarter. Ed Daquioag contributed 16 points, Mike Tolomia added 14 points and seven assists, while Roger Pogoy and Tamsi had 10 markers apiece. UP made a late run and came to within 85-74 with 4:41 left in the fourth, but Belo and Pogoy were there to stop the Maroons’ rally.
Raymond Aguilar finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds for UP, while Juneric Baloria wound up with 12.
In the other game, BDO-National University snapped a two-game slump by holding AMA University, 93-87. AMA fell to 0-3.