Arthur Roque led five Deltas in double digits as powerhouse Pampanga convincingly defeated NBS 98-77 last Thursday night, securing its second consecutive win in the Sinag Liga Asya Born 2001 Cup at the One Arena in Cainta.
Roque recorded 21 points, in addition to three rebounds and two assists for Pampanga Delta.
Kevin Santos and Sonny Estil contributed 13 points each, while Charles Jacob Delfino, Jonnel Policarpio, and Carlo Ferreras finished with 11, 11, and 10 points, respectively.
This strong performance allowed Pampanga Delta to build on their previous 101-50 victory over Antipolo Pilgrims LEAP, resulting in a 2-0 record in the inaugural tournament presented by Converge and supported by Foton, JProject, Royce Hotel, Sunsport, Bluesky Advertising, Finn Cotton, WCube Solutions, SCD, and Blast TV.
JR Ilustrisimo led the Slashers with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Marvin James Raymundo and Miguel Sahali combined for 27 points.
In other games, Hustle ended a two-game slide with a 93-84 victory over Parañaque, while Datzlav Eoz Construction Laguna overcame Antipolo with a score of 78-67.
Arvin Bautista contributed 15 points and five rebounds for the Rising Suns, supported by 13 points each from Vincent Jacobe Canlas and Ernie Pineda.
Hustle’s Tubangi Tristan scored 10 points, helping the team recover from two consecutive losses, including an 87-94 defeat to Luid One Kapampangan the previous Wednesday.
Laguna’s Rob Basti Panes narrowly missed a double-double with 23 points and nine rebounds, helping his team make up for a 78-83 loss to LDG San Pedro, also from the previous Wednesday.
The inaugural tournament will feature a single-round elimination format, with the top eight teams advancing to the quarterfinals with a two-to-beat advantage against lower-ranked teams.
The semifinals and finals will consist of one-game matchups.
