The Tanduay Rhum Masters showed no mercy and pulverized the Zark’s Jawbreakers, 141-65, in the 2017 PBA D-League Foundation Cup, and in the process, shattered two entries in the history books, Monday afternoon at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
With the Rhum Masters’ guns ablaze, they have gotten the new record for most points scored at 141, erasing the 140-point windup the Racal Motors had against the very same Jawbreakers crew last June 8, while also claiming the biggest winning margin at 76 points, blasting Cignal HD’s 67-point winning spread versus Gamboa Coffee Mix last June 15.
Coach Lawrence Chongson, though, argued that his players were just in the right place at the right time as Tanduay sought to rebound from their 104-89 defeat to the Flying V Thunder last Thursday.
“Nagkataon lang na nagkaroon kami ng strong start. Galing kami sa talo at ang iniisip lang namin, magkaroon ng momentum going on Thursday against Batangas,” said the outspoken mentor.
Jerwin Gaco kickstarted the pull-away early, dropping 14 of his 21 points in the opening frame as the Rhum Masters jumped to a 35-6 advantage to close the period and set the tone for the rest of the game. The veteran forward also hauled down eight rebounds and dished out three assists.
James Martinez, also a PBA D-League record-holder for most points scored, caught fire from downtown as he shot 5-of-8 from beyond-the-arc to wound up with 23 markers, nine assists, and two boards.
Paul Sanga chimed in 20 points and four rebounds, including the record-setting undergoal stab in the dwindling seconds of the game, while Paul Varilla had 15 markers and eight boards.
With the game looking like glorified lay-up lines, all 14 players who checked in the game for Tanduay were able to log at least two points in the victory.
Still, Chongson refused to be blinded by the record-setting feat.
“Hindi mahalaga yung record para sa amin. Balewala yan if we don’t make it to the next round. The only record na gusto namin is mag-champion,” he said.
The Rhum Masters forced themselves into a three-way logjam at third place with CEU and Batangas, all touting identical 4-2 records.
Robby Celiz topscored for Zark’s Burgers with 13 points, three rebounds, and two assists, while Jerome Ferrer had 12 markers and four boards.
The Jawbreakers suffered their fourth straight setback and further fell down the pipeline at 1-7.
Tanduay will next face Team Batangas in a virtual battle for the third seed on Thursday, July 13, at 3:00pm. Zark’s Burger, on the other hand, will try to recover from this loss when it faces the Marinerong Pilipino Skippers on Tuesday, July 18, at 3:00pm. Both games will still be played at the Ynares Sports Arena.
The Scores:
Tanduay (141) – Martinez 23, Gaco 21, Sanga 20, Varilla 15, Alvarez 11, Villamor 10, Eguilos 9, Vigil 9, Terso 7, Santos 5, Sollano 5, Palma 2, Taganas 2, Tambeling 2.
Zark’s Burgers (65) – Celiz 13, Ferrer 12, Bautista 11, De Leon 10, Cudal 6, Cariaga 5, Mangahas 5, Nalos 2, Argamino 1, Cayabyab 0, De Ocampo 0.
Quarterscores: 35-6, 58-29, 95-45, 141-65.
