Defending champion Magnolia All-Stars and 2003 titlist Pro Stats won
their respective matches against separate opponents yesterday at the
start of the PBA Press Corps-organized 17th Annual Raffy Japa Cup
basketball tournament at the Cuneta Astrodome.
The PBA statisticians, on the other hand, scored a come-from-behind
73-71 win over the Coca-Cola All-Stars behind a 40-point effort from
import Vergel Meneses.
The Beverage Masters, led by the 31 and 30 points, respectively, from
Gani Malindog and Boris Aldeguer, had an easy 109-94 win over the Talk
'N Text All-Stars in a game where Magnolia led from start to finish
despite playing with just five players.
With Malindog scoring 13 of his points in the second quarter, Magnolia
outscored Talk 'N Text 37-22 in the period en route to a 59-39
halftime lead from which the Beverage Masters never looked back.
Trailing by as much as 11 points at the half and for more than three
fourths of the game, Meneses combined with Bogz Marcial and Zaldy
Trinidad in the second half where Pro Stats outscored Coca-Cola 42-29.
The scores:
First game
SMC All-Stars 109 – Malindog 31, Aldeguer 30, Marcos
20, Bacason 20, Cortez 8.
Talk 'N Text All-Stars 94 – Bravo 42, Reyes 23,
Perasol 11, Fausto 8, Busa 8, Cruz 2.
Quarterscores: 22-17, 59-39, 84-66, 109-94.
Second game
Pro Stats 73 – Meneses 40, Marcial 12, Hernando 6,
Trinidad 6, Apostol 3, Lopez 2, Prestosa 2, Mangonon 2, Mortell 0.
Coca-Cola All-Stars 71 – Veloso 29, Arguelles 19,
Tiamson 12, Repicio 7, Balcuza 3, Umentado 1.
Quarterscores: 13-19, 31-42, 55-57, 73-71.