Autolab 99 earns piece of lead in SHAABAA caging

AUTOLAB 99 grabbed a share of the lead in the standings in Division B with a 52-43 victory over Dynacast 2001 in the PLDT SME Nation-Alfredo Gothong 21st SHAABAA Cup Basketball Tournament last Sunday at the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu campus in Barangay Canduman, Mandaue City.

The victory was AutoLAB’s eighth in a row which placed them in a tie with the idle Batch 97 at 8-0.

Still, AutoLAB had to earn the win especially after trailing, 12-15, after the first 10 minutes of action. Thereafter, their defense kicked into high gear and stymied Batch 2001 at every turn to limit them to just four points in the second.

AutoLAB on the other hand, had 13 during that pivotal stretch to put them in the driver’s seat, 25-19, at halftime. They never looked back after that short burst.

Jeremy Huang scored 18 points to lead AutoLAB while Rex Gamallo helped the team out with 10.

Dynacast, on the other hand, fell to fourth place, after suffering its third loss in nine outings.

In other matches, Choobi Bay Crab and Shrimp 91 won its seventh game in eight games as it dominated Chick@Phil 89, 71-36.

Benedict Benedicto scored 12 while Andrew Choachuy added 11 to put Choobi Bay in second place behind the unbeaten squads in Division B.

Chick@Phil, meanwhile, continued to languish at the bottom with a 0-10 (win-loss) record.

Batch 92 also upset the White Gold Club 96, 62-52, for just its second victory of the competition.

Chris Aldeguer exploded for 21 points while Neil Vasquez chipped in 14 to push Batch 92’s record to 2-6 and drop White Gold Club into a three-way tie for fourth place at 4-
4, in spite of the 25 points of Junie Alejandro.

Batch 95 grabbed a 60-55 win over Batch 93 as Rhett Tomakin scored a game-high 21.

In Division C, Prince Warehouse 2006 defeated South Tiger Trucks, 58-52, in the division’s wild card round.

Luis Yu had 14 while Darren Ong and Justin Pelenio added 10 apiece to help Prince Warehouse to the crucial win.