Warriors traumatize Cobras, share lead

University of the East defeated Southwestern U, 63-59, last night to gain a piece of the Group B lead in the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup at the Arena.

Emil Palma fired 18 points as the Warriors got back on the winning track after their 82-96 setback to the La Salle Archers and improved to 5-1.

The Warriors vaulted back into the top in the company of idle Centro Escolar and the Archers.

Congolese Boko Mupungu showed the way with 20 points for the Cobras, who absorbed their third loss in four starts.

Letran leaned on Bong Quinto’s endgame heroics as it carved out a 68-64 victory over St. Benilde to bolster its bid in Group A.

Quinto tossed in a teardrop to give the Knights a two-point lead then hauled down a defensive rebound off Benilde’s flubbed jumper, drew a foul and canned in two charities to help secure their fourth straight win for a 5-2 overall card.

He wound up with 15 points while Mcjour Luib netted 14 markers and Jomari Sollano had a doubledouble of 11 points and 13 rebounds for Letran.

JR Ongteco paced the Blazers (3-4) with a 16-point, 10-rebound effort.

Adamson and Mapua picked up their second wins after clobbering their respective rivals, Emilio Aguinaldo College, 84-73, and Lyceum of the Philippines University, 81-65.

Rookie Nico Capote drilled in three triples as the Falcons turned back the Generals with a 17-3 run in the third period en route to a 2-4 card.

Capote finished with 19 points to complement top scorer Papi Sarr, who dished out 19 markers and snared nine rebounds. Another freshman JD Tungcab played solid with 12 markers.

Francis Munsayac shot 15 ponts for the Generals, who slid to 1-6.

The Cardinals held the Pirates to a meager five-point output in the second quarter to seize a 36-19 tear that paved the way for their second win against five defeats.

Allwell Oraeme and Bien Dela Rosa combined for 41 markers, doing the most damage in the last two periods to help widen their lead to as many as 25 points.

The Pirates, who were led by Wilson Baltazar (13), Shaq Alanes (12), and Jebb Bulawan (11), dropped to 1-6.

Meanwhile, Perpetual Help guns for its sixth straight win in Group A as it takes on Jose Rizal University at resumption of action today, also at the Flying V Arena.

Gametime is at 1:30 p.m. with the Las Piñasbased squad of multi-titled coach Aric Del Rosario assured of a slot in quarterfinals, hoping to stay as the only unbeaten team in the 18-team tourney.