BRT Sumisip Basilan-St. Clare repulsed Centro Escolar University, 86-70, to move a win away from the 2019 PBA D-League Foundation Cup Finals on Thursday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
Malian slotman Mohammed Pare paced the Saints with 19 points and seven rebounds in the victory that put them in a prime position to sweep the best-of-three semifinals series.
Joshua Fontanilla filled up the stat sheet with 14 points, six assists, and five rebounds, while Junjie Hallare and Jhaps Bautista provided 11 and 10 markers, respectively.
"Sa start pa lang mas aggressive kami," said coach Stevenson Tiu. "Ineexpect ko mas aggressive sila pero first quarter pa lang, nakita ko na controlled na namin yung game."
The Saints took hold of the match with an 11-0 blast bridging the middle frames to turn a narrow 40-37 second quarter lead to a 51-37 advantage with 9:12 remaining in the third canto.
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Yet it wasn't as smooth sailing as BRT Sumisip-St. Clare thought it would, with CEU knocking the lead down to just five, 55-50, with 4:28 to go in the period.
But Bautista and Leo Gabo made sure that the win was in the bag, taking over in the payoff period and gave the Saints a commanding 82-64 lead with 3:04 remaining to cruise to their eighth straight victory.
BRT Sumisip-St. Clare aims to finish things off in Game Two on Monday.
Senegalese center Malick Diouf carried CEU in the losing cause with 12 points, 15 rebounds, six steals, four assists, and three blocks.
Jerome Santos was the only other double-digit scorer for the Scorpions with 11 points.
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The Scores:
BRT SUMISIP-ST. CLARE 86 -- Pare 19, Fontanilla 14, Hallare 11, Bautista 10, Collado 9, Dumapig 8, Gabo 7, Rubio 5, Manacho 3, Penaredondo 0, Batino 0.
CEU 70 -- Diouf 12, Santos 11, Guinitaran 8, Diaz 8, Tuadles 8, Sunga 7, Escalona 6, Bernabe 5, Tagal 5, De Ocampo 0, Murillo 0, Espiritu 0.
Quarters: 21-23, 46-37, 65-55, 86-70.
