THREE-time champion Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) routed Office of the President-Presidential Management Staff, 112-75, and kept its bid for a second-round berth in the 9th UNTV Cup at the Paco Arena in Manila.
Jerry Lumongsod and Romeo Almerol had 26 points each as the Cavaliers avoided making an early exit in the two-part eliminations as they improved their record to 2-2 in Group A play.
See GSIS makes it back-to-back wins as Senate stays unbeaten in UNTV Cup
The Cavaliers, however, must hurdle their last game in the 6-team eliminations against PhilHealth on Feb. 8 to make it to the second round of the tournament offering a tax-free P3 million prize to the chosen charity of the champion team.
The defending champions DENR Warriors, meantime, overpowered the SSS Kabalikat, 124-33, for a 2-1 mark in Group B.
In other Group A match, PhilHealth drew big games from Jonathan Aldave and Jervy Glorioso to hand the Judiciary Magis their first defeat, 86-84.
SSS became the first team to be eliminated from the 12-team tournament exclusively for public servants.
DENR’s overpowering win over the Kabalikat somehow soothed the pain of its stinging 92-80 defeat to the NHA Home Masters the last time in a game it controlled most of the way.
Ralph Lansang led five DENR players in double figures with 30 points.
On Wednesday, Jan. 25, at the Novadeci Convention Center in Quezon City, NHA takes on SSS at 2 p.m., Dept. of Agriculture battles OP-PMS at 3:30 p.m. and Senate faces DENR at 5 p.m.
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