GlobalPort sweeps first round elims

GlobalPort Spurs completed a first round sweep in comeback fashion while Best Center Pioneers earned their second straight victory in the PGBL Season 4 Willie Caballes Cup on Monday night at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

The Spurs leaned on the second half heroics of Jerome Lagunzad of Tempo and Aldo Aviñante to overcome a 19-point third quarter deficit and prevailed, 69-64, over defending champion Rain or Shine Elasto Scribes to complete the three-game first round sweep in the tournament presented by the Philippine Basketball Association and the Philippine Sports Commission.

The Scribes enjoyed a wide lead in the first half, 38-23, and sustained their momentum at the end of the third period, 51-42 until Lagunzad and Aviñante combined for 23 points in the Spurs’ 27-point fourth quarter explosion.

Lagunzad hit two crucial triples that brought his team on top with just two minutes left and finished with 29 points, 13 rebounds, six steals and an assist, while Aviñante made 21 markers, eight boards, three dimes and a pair of steals.

The ElastoScribes fell to third place with a 1-2 slate to end the first round.

The Pioneers, meanwhile, surged in the payoff period behind Arnold Cagang and Christian Jacinto to foil the gallant stand of the Dymons, 64-53.

Best Center and Dymons engaged in a neck-and-neck duel in the first three quarters but the Pioneers pulled away in the fourth quarter – as the Dymons ran out of gas – and cruised for their second straight win in their first three matches to take the second place.

Cagang finished with a teamhigh 23 points including eight rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals, while Jacinto once again put up an all-around numbers finishing with 21 points, 13 board, four dimes, two blocks and as many as steals.