Trevis Jackson scattered 30 points to lead Gamboa Coffee Mix-Saint Clare to a 104-81 victory over Batangas-Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) on Monday in the 2018 Philippine Basketball Association D-League Aspirants’ Cup at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
The Fil-Am guard went on a 12-of-17 clip from the field and hauled down four rebounds as the Coffee Lovers’ picked up their first win of the conference. Malian center Mohammed Pare chalked up double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds, John Ambuludto chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds, and Aris Dionisio contributed nine points and 17 boards as Gamboa Coffee Mix-Saint Clare’s evened its record to 1-1.
Centro Escolar University (CEU) provided the day’s stunner though by dispatching Marinerong Pilipino, 104-93, in the other game.
The Scorpions used a 16-7 run early in the second quarter to turn a one point deficit into a 40-30 lead with 4:50 left in the period. CEU knocked down four three-pointers in that decisive run, two them courtesy of Rod Ebondo.
The Skippers pulled within 92-97 on two free throws by Michael Ayonayon with 2:27 left in the fourth but the Scorpions kept their poise to repel the threat.
Rod Ebondo trned in 30 points and nine rebounds while Judel Fuentes added 20 for the CEU which opened its campaign on a bright note. Ayonayon tallied 24 points while Renz Subido and Billy Robles had 17 apiece for the Skippers, who fell to the second straight loss and dropped to 1-2.
Coach Jinino Manansala breathes sigh of relief after the lopsided win noting he expects a tough challenge in the tournament.
“It’s quite difficult for school-based teams to adjust, so I told my players to treat it one game at a time. I know we’ll get there,” he said. Gamboa-St. Clare pulled away from Batangas-EAC, using a 33-point second quarter explosion for a 53-38 halftime advangtage.
Then Jackson took over, scoring 12 of the Coffee Lovers’ 28 third quarter points as Gamboa extended the lead to as high as 31, 99-68, in the waning seconds of the game.
Chris dela Peña led the Batangas-EAC (0-2) with 14 points and three rebounds, while JP Maguliano got 13 markers and six boards.