Mark Cruz got his rhythm early as the Tanduay Rhum Masters defeated Victoria Sports/Manuel L. Quezon University, 86-72, on Tuesday in the Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League Aspirants’ Cup at the JCSGO Gym in Cubao.
The pint-sized but dynamic guard Cruz poured his game-high 22 points in the first half, including five-of-six shooting from the three-point range. He also had four assists and three rebounds for the Rhum Masters, who moved to solo second (3-1 won-lost) behind unbeaten leader Racal (3-0).
Raphy Reyes finished with 10 points, while Jaymo Eguilos barely missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds for Tanduay, which picked its third straight win.
Victoria Sports trailed by as many as 39-21 in the second quarter, but timely hits by Aris Dionisio helped the team to pull within 63-59 at the end of the third.
Then the Rhum Masters buckled down to work again. They opened the fourth with an 11-0 tear to push the lead to 74-59 and were never threatened again.
“The ball’s round,” Coach Lawrence Chongson said. “They won’t lie down and play dead. But for us, we just wanted to continue our progress and our buildup, especially toward our next games.”
Dionisio led the still-winless Victoria Sports (0-3) with 16 points that went with his nine rebounds and two blocks. Edsel Mag-isa had 14 points and three assists in the loss.
CaféFrance pounced on the struggling Blustar Detergent, 88-52, in a game that was over after the first half. Paul Desiderio scattered 19 points to show the way for the Bakers. Rod Ebondo also had a solid game, finishing with 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
The Bakers had a heyday against the Malaysians with all 14 players fielded contributing two points or more. CaféFrance led, 51-22, at halftime.