ILOILO City – Elite Lab had a resounding start in the Open Category of the Mayor Jerry Treñas New Normal Sporting Event Basketball Tournament on Saturday at the M.H. Del Pilar Covered Court at the Don Francisco Village in Jaro.
The Elite Lab leaned on the exploits of Irele Galas, RJ Pantin, Roy Jacinto and Marvin Cuerbo as they cruised to a wire-to-wire 97-67 domination over Biron Golez of Dumangas.
Galas, a standout of St. Roberts International Academy Panda Rockets, was later hailed as Tanduay Best Player of the Game after finishing with double-double 20 points and 10 rebounds.
“Our hard work of training every day is paying off,” said Elite Lab co-founder Eugene Chua. “We know we were up against tough competition here as the other teams were no push overs also.”
Defending champion Iloilo Executives-DPWH, meanwhile, survived a tough challenge from Asialink before pulling off a 96-90 double overtime victory.
John Lester Samones, the MVP winner from the previous JPT Basketball tournament in 2020, spearheaded the attack for Iloilo Executives-DPWH with double-double 25 points and 11 rebounds.
T.E.J. Builders, on the other hand, scored a 98-87 triumph over Leadgen. Ronrei Tolentino, previously of Far Eastern University Baby Tamaraws, led the winning team with 20 points.
J. Cordon Construction, for its part, escaped with an 83-80 victory over Guimaras Leopards in one of the closest games in Day 1. JR Fritchard Dulce drained 31 points to lead J. Cordon.
MDC also got to a winning start in the open category after a 111-68 domination over Rebisco.
Agapito Clarito scored 25 pts to go with eight rebounds and two assists for MDC.
In the lone 40-UP category game, RRG escaped with a 65-61 victory against Iloilo Executive. Arlan Somodio topscored for the winning squad with 14 markers./PN
