Wilmar Oftana and Cade Flores steered Arellano University to a dominant 84-66 win over University of Perpetual Help System – DALTA to close out their campaign in Group A of the 2022 Filoil Ecooil Preseason Cup on Saturday morning in San Juan City.
Oftana dropped a game-high 20 points, shooting 8-of-12 from the field along with four rebounds and three assists, while Flores posted a double-double with 18 markers, 12 rebounds, and five steals.
Both teams ended their preseason campaign with the same win-loss record, finishing with identical 2-6 slates.
“I’ve been telling the players this tournament is for our advantage diba? Since ito ay aming official games. Wala kaming tune-ups, so eto ang aming official games. So, I’m happy na kung titignan mo ‘yung mga linaro namin… okay naman. We have learned so many things,” said head coach Cholo Martin.
Leading 55-39 in the third frame, the quartet of Flores, Oftana, Danielle Mallari, and Christian Sunga willed the Chiefs a 7-3 run to get a 20-point cushion, 62-42, with 5:27 remaining.
However, Perpetual’s Rey Barcuma, Lawrence Cauguiran, and JP Boral sparked a 10-3 run to cut the deficit to 13, 65-52, entering the fourth frame.
Then at the start of the fourth frame, Shawn Orgo and Barcuma cut it further down to seven, 65-58, but that was the closest they could get.
The Chiefs went on a 19-5 run and never looked back the whole fourth quarter, netting their highest lead, 84-63.
Jaedan Ongotan and Axel Doromal produced eight and seven points, respectively, with the latter adding three rebounds and four assists. Mallari posted 10 rebounds to go with five markers and four assists.
Barcuma, on the other hand, led the Altas with 15 markers and seven rebounds in 27:35 minutes of playing time off the bench. Jasper Cuevas and Orgo registered 13 and 12 points, respectively, with the Cuevas having five assists and three rebounds, while Orgo added two boards and two dimes.
Jielo Razon did not play in the last game of the Altas.
The Scores:
Arellano 84 — Oftana 20, Flores 18, Talampas 8, Doromal 7, Punzalan 7, Mallari 5, Sunga 5, Oliva 4, Ongotan 4, Tolentino 1, Tan 0.
Perpetual 66 — Barcuma 15, Cuevas 13, Orgo 12, Boral 9, Flores 5, Nunez 4, Gelsano 4, Udugan 2, Cauguiran 2, Kawamura 0.
Quarterscores: 24-15, 48-37, 65-52, 84-66.
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The entire 2022 Filoil Ecooil Preseason Cup will stream LIVE on Smart Sports Facebook page