THE Jumbo Plastic Giants played inspired basketball and came away with a 79-61 rout of the Caida Tiles in Game 1 of the best-of-three championship series in the 2015 Pilipinas Commercial Basketball League (PCBL) Founders Cup on Friday evening at the JCSGO Gym in Quezon City.
The Giants did not take long to assert themselves as they rode the hot shooting of Mark Lopez and James Martinez who came off the bench and immediately scored seven straight to tow them to a 23-13 lead after the first period. Martinez and Lopez continued their offensive display, scoring from all angles as their margin ballooned by halftime, 44-26. By the third, Jumbo Plastic’s lead reached its peak of 24 markers, 58-34.
The Giants thus ended Caida’s six-game winning run while stretching their own winning streak to three. The last time the Tilemasters suffered defeat was at the hands of their sister team Kama Motors, 78-82, last November 10.
Martinez finished with 22 points while his fellow University of the East alumnus, Marcy Arellano, added 16. Mark Lopez ended up with a near double-double of 14 markers and nine rebounds.
Jiovani Jalalon was the lone double-figure scorer for the Tilemasters with 11 points on top of two rebounds and two assists. Dexter Maiquez was next with nine points and four rebounds.
The Giants will try to secure the title in Game 2 today over at the Malolos City Sports and Convention Center.