The Cignal HD Hawkeyes clobbered the Gamboa Coffee Lovers and zapped their way to the PBA D-League history books with a 118-51 win, Thursday afternoon at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
Anchored by the strong starts of Pamboy Raymundo and Jason Perkins, the Hawkeyes duo teamed up for 13 of the squad’s 27 first quarter points before the rest of the team followed suit, jumping to a 50-24 halftime edge.
Not helping the Coffee Lovers was the ankle injury that Mark Sarangay had sustained early on, which left a gaping hole in the middle for Gamboa. That allowed Cignal to bully their way inside, as Mark Bringas fired the finishing blow with a lay-up in the final 13.9 ticks to seal the new PBA D-League record for the biggest winning margin at 67 points.
The Hawkeyes erased the previous record set by NLEX, coincidentally also coached by Boyet Fernandez, when they battered Zambales M-Builders by 64 points, 125-61 on January 30, 2014.
“Ang reminder ko lang is I wanted to see the discipline on our execution,” said Fernandez, whose side rose to a 4-2 slate.
Raymundo topped Cignal with 17 points, Raymar Jose did it all in his short time on the floor with 15 markers, seven rebounds, and two dimes, and Perkins unfurled all of his nine points, ten boards, and four assists in the first half.
The huge lead allowed the Hawkeyes to share the minutes to their bench players, with Byron Villarias going for 17 markers, five rebounds, and two assists, Jeremy Bartolo pouring 14 points, and Dan Sara dropping 10.
Cignal can now move forward and prepare for their Finals rematch against Racal on Tuesday to cap off their seven-games-in-ten-playdates schedule.
“Ito na yung preparation namin our game against Racal. Again, we need to win these games so that we’ll have a little buffer in order for us to achieve our goal of making the quarters,” said Fernandez.
Ken Acibar led Gamboa (1-2) with 10 points and four rebounds, while Val Acuña chipped in nine.
Davon Potts will play his last PBA D-League game when Cignal take on the Racal Motor Alibabas on Tuesday, June 20, at 2:00pm. The Gamboa Coffee Lovers, on the other hand, face the Wangs Basketball Couriers earlier that day at 12:00nn.
The Scores:
Cignal (118) – Raymundo 17, Villarias 17, Jose 15, Bartolo 14, Sara 10, Perkins 9, Bringas 9, Arboleda 6, Potts 6, Cahilig 6, Batino 4, Sumalinog 3, Arong 2, Atkins 0.
Gamboa Coffee (51) – Acibar 10, Acuña 9, Montuano 8, Dadjilul 5, Jumao-as 4, Vidal 3, Avenido 3, Padilla 2, Knuttel 2, David 2, Lacastesantos 2, Sarangay 1, Riva 0, Arellano 0.
Quarterscores: 27-17, 50-24, 90-35, 118-51.
