BY MEG SIOZON
PASIG CITY—Flying V Thunder remained unbeaten with an unblemished record of 7-0 after hammering Centro Escolar University Scorpions, 91-79, solidifying their spot at the 2017 PBA D-League Foundation Cup Playoffs.
The closest the Scorpions got was 32-33, with Thunder just leading by a point, courtesy of a triple from Ric Fuentes. By the second half, fiery Teng did not waste time to breakaway and blasted away with 4-of-5 three-pointers giving the Thunder a 75-56 advantage.
“CEU decided to zone us. I reminded the boys to be more patient on offense, move that ball, try to move the defense, try to penetrate the defense and create shots for each other. We did that in the second half and created a lot of three point shots for us,” said Flying V head coach Eric Altamirano.
Jeron Teng nabs his back-to-back 30 points in Thunder’s victory marking him as the tournament’s top performer, to go with 4 rebounds and 5 dimes.
However, despite the impressive statistical record, Teng admitted that there is more room for improvement. “Every game, I always see room for improvement; and in this game, I was trying to improve on my outside shooting, on my three points,” he said.
Eric Salamat likewise aided in breaking the Scorpion’s zone defense setting 4-of-8 beyond the arc to contribute 13 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds.
Meanwhile, go-to-guy Rodrigue Ebondo led CEU with his double-double performance of 20 points and 21 rebounds while Orlan Wamar trailed with 13 points and 2 boards.
The Scores:
FLYING V (91) – Teng 30, Salamat 13, Banal 11, Thiele 10, Torres 9, Dionisio 8, Paredes 5, Canada 3, Tampus 2, Colina 0, Cabahug 0, Webb 0, Mendoza 0, Austria 0.
CENTRO ESCOLAR (79) – Ebondo 20, Wamar 13, Fuentes 11, Jeruta 8, Manlangit 5, Intic 5, Guinitaran 4, Cruz 4, Casino 3, Uri 2, Aquino 2, Arim 2, Baconcon 0.
Period Scores: 14-9, 38-34, 63-53, 91-79.
