Queenielin/SoftLab notch second straight win

Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

QUEENIELIN/SOFTLAB stamped their class over Darul Trustee Remittance/LandBank 101-89 yesterday to notch their second win in the 111th Philippine Independence Basketball Cup at the Brunei Basketball Association Court, Batu Bersurat.

Geve Leones came with another brilliant game to lead his team with 28 points despite sitting out the third quarter.

"I felt that I played good today and hopefully we can win the rest of our games to top the group," said Leones, who scored 29 points when they won over Ren Yis/Primatel 106-80 last Saturday.

LandBank looked as if they were going to stage a rally in the third period with Leones on the bench.

But Aries Castro, who finished with 15 points, went on a shooting spree to give Queenielin/SoftLab a 79-64 advantage at the end of the third quarter.

While both teams played well in the first half, Queenielin/SoftLab were able to take control and returned to their dugout with a 48-40 lead.

LandBank managed to keep themselves in the game with their offensive rebounding turning to second chance points.

Queenielin/SoftLab applied full-court pressure from throughout the game, forcing their opponents to several turnovers.

Queenielin/SoftLab coach Lhito Porlahe said that he was conditioning the players to applying full-court pressure on both games.

"We wanted to pressure their point guard and to give him a hard time bringing the ball. The team performed well today as they listened to instructions and executed them well," said Porlahe.

When asked about the chances of topping the group, Porlahe answered, "The other teams are very strong but hopefully we would be able to top our group and advance into the knock out stages."

LandBank were led by Ernisto Espique with 20 points and Sherwin Antonio contributing 14 points.

In the other game, Babes Boutique clobbered Ren Yis/Primatel 97-77.

Meanwhile, defending champion Chop Eng Seng Keo/Pinoy Resources decided to pull out from the tournament for technical reasons.

The Brunei Times