Favored Pampanga Delta showcased its strength with a commanding 101-50 victory over the Antipolo Pilgrims LEAP on Saturday night as the inaugural Sinag Liga Asya Born 2001 Cup commenced at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando, Pampanga.
Arthur Roque led a more balanced offensive attack for Pampanga, scoring 17 points, along with four rebounds and one assist.
Jonnel Policarpio and Justine Bautista also contributed with 16 and 15 points, respectively, in the tournament presented by Converge and supported by Foton, JProject, Royce Hotel, Sunsport, Bluesky Advertising, Finn Cotton, WCube Solutions, and SCD.
“We’re just so excited for the SLA. It’s a fresh start, but it’s the same old group, same old teams that we have,” SLA chairman Rocky Chan said. “We also have our former commissioner and now chief operations officer, Coach Leo Isaac, who will run the show on the basketball operations side. We’re so excited about the inaugural conference of the Sinag Liga Asya Born 2001 Cup.
“We have 11 teams here in Luzon, eight teams in Mindanao, and in Visayas. We are happy that we can provide opportunities for young players to fulfill their dreams,” he added.
In the opening game, Luid One Kapampangan narrowly defeated LDG San Pedro 73-70, buoyed by CJ Buitison’s all-around brilliance and gaining a winning start in front of a sizable home crowd.
Buitison led Pampanga with 26 points, six steals, three rebounds, and three assists, while IC Dauting added 11 points.
Laguna DatzLav x EOZ Construction overpowered Hustle Rising Suns 70-63 in the second match.
Mhickael Pontanoza led the way for Laguna with 14 points and seven rebounds. Glenn Jared Madiz achieved a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
The tournament will feature a single-round elimination format, with the top eight teams advancing to the quarterfinals with a twice-to-beat advantage over the lower-ranked squads.
The semifinals and finals will both be one-game contests.
