ABMS, Palm Cafe still unbeaten

ABMS were in a league of their own as they demolished Pinoy 1st Edition 114-81 last night to stay undefeated with four wins in Group A of the regular seven stars category of the LBC Cup at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat.

Four players were in double digits for ABMS with Roldan Binas leading the way with 28 points.

Don Dadis Mordeno finished with 21 points while Rhoy Binas contributed 20 points and Joseno Mangoroban chipped in 18 points.

On the other hand, Mike Nuguid led Pinoy 1st Edition with 15 points and Joel Valdez scored 13.

Pinoy 1st Edition managed to press break earlier on in the opening period as ABMS applied full court pressure from tip off taking an early 22-15 advantage into the second period.

ABMS exploited the lack of depth on the Pinoy 1st Edition bench and further extended their lead to 50-33 heading into halftime.

One of the tournament's favourites, ABMS quickly shifted gears in the third period as exhaustion crept in for their opponents allowing them to move towards the blowout victory.

"Tonight's (Saturday night's) performance was good. I'm very satisfied with my players' performance despite not having enough practice," said Kaka Espartero, the head coach of ABMS after the victory.

"We started out with the full court pressure from the beginning as we saw that they lacked a point guard. Defence just did it for us," added Espartero.

The 40-year-old Filipino used the game as part of conditioning and preparations for their upcoming matches in the competition.

In the second match, Palm Cafe also stayed in the fray as they notched up their fourth straight victory with a 91-70 win over El Tigre Marshalls in Group A.

Geve Leones topscored for Palm Cafe with 24 points while Romel Valmores led El Tigre Marshalls with 17 points.

Palm Cafe started out hot from the field as they applied their 1-3-1 full court pressure defence from the start.

The scoreboard read 19-0 halfway through the first period and they led all the way to victory.

"It was a very physical game and my players were too confident coming into the match," said Lito Porlahe, the playing coach of Palm Cafe. "But I just told them to play a fast game," added Porlahe.

The competition continues today with the all-Malay Liga Bumiputera in search of their first victory against Menglait All-Star in Group B at 1.30pm.

The match between Beaver Engineering and Morley Movers for Group B follows at 3pm while the late game will see the Philippine Ambassador to Brunei, Alexander Yano, lace up for Young Once as they go up against MK Super Kids in the 45 years old and above category.

The Brunei Times