CEU fends off late Batangas-EAC rally

MANILA, Philippines – A hot-shooting Centro Escolar University squad showed up early, but the Scorpions needed to fend off a late rally to hack out an 84-75 victory over the Batangas-EAC Generals in the 2018 PBA D-League Foundation Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena on Thursday, July 12.

Orlan Wamar fired 12 of his 17 points from beyond the arc to lead CEU, while Pierce Chan notched a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds. 

“We started playing not to lose instead of playing to win. We were up by 19 [but] we kept them in the game by giving them second chances,” CEU head coach Derrick Pumaren said.  

“This is a very important game for us [now that] we’re tied with Batangas. We have not beaten Batangas in our first two outings,” he added. 

Jan Dominic Formento chipped in 10 points to power the Scorpions, who survived the Generals’ late outburst to improve to 4-3. 

The Generals pulled within 5 at 75-80 with under a minute left, but Wamar’s charities at the stripe helped cushion the Scorpions’ lead, 84-75, with 19 ticks left. 

Tempers flared early in the 4th between Jordan Intic and Cyrus Tabi following a loose ball incident. The two were later slapped with technical fouls for the altercation. 

Judel Fuentes had 12 points and 7 rebounds and Giles Oloume also tallied a near double-double of 11 points and 9 rebounds for the Scorpions. 

The Scorprions got off to a hot start, firing 5 straight triples that turned an early 2-8 deficit to a 23-16 lead. 

 Michael Mabulac carried the Generals with 27 points and 14 rebounds. 

 The Scores:   

CEU (84): Wamar 17, Chan 13, Fuentes 12, Oloume 11, Formento 10, Intic 8, Guinitaran 5, Uri 4, Rojas 4.

Batangas-EAC (75): Mabulac 27, Tabi 10, De Joya 8, Mendoza 6, De Guzman 6, Bautista 5, Derige 5, Arim 2, Manalo 2, Austria 2, Dela Pena 1, Laude 1.

Quarter Scores: 26-21, 47-34, 62-51, 84-75.

– Franco Luna/Rappler.com