Hawkeyes smother Scorpions, near title

Game tomorrow

5 p.m. – CEU vs Cignal HD

MANILA, Philippines - Jason Perkins sizzled early as Cignal HD used a strong start to crush Centro Escolar U, 78-56, and move a win from completing a back-to-back title romp in the PBA D-League.

Perkins poured in eight of his 16 points in the first quarter as the Hawkeyes bucked the absence of center Raymar Jose and dominated the Scorpions on their way to posting the 22-point rout in the opener of their best-of-three series for the Foundation Cup crown.

“Jason knows that he’s a very important part of this team. It shows that he’s always been stepping up for us. We know that the challenge of stepping up is there, and I commend all my players today, especially Jason,” said coach Boyet Fernandez.

Cruz, who mans the slot for Cignal, is with the Gilas Cadet team in the ongoing SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.

CEU, which pulled off a shocker by ousting top-seeded Flying V in sudden death in their semis match, got no closer than 12 points, 25-37.

“It’s not yet over until it’s over. We know CEU is capable of coming back and if we give them that chance, we’ll have a problem,” said Fernandez.

“But I’m happy with the way the players stepped up their game. We stuck to our game plan and executed well on offense. Hopefully we can be consistent on our game on Thursday.”

Byron Villarias paced Cignal HD with 17 points on a 6-for-8 clip, Perkins turned in double-double numbers of 16 markers and 11 boards, Mark Bringas unloaded 13 points, while Oping Sumalinog added 11.

Rod Ebondo led the Scorpions with his own double-double output of 27 points and 17 rebounds but hardly got help from the rest of the Scorpions with Rich Guinitaran emerging the only other player to log a double-digit number of 10 points.

The scores:

Cignal HD 78 – Villarias 17, Perkins 16, Bringas 13, Sumalinog 11, Batino 8, Uyloan 6, Sara 4, Raymundo 3, Apinan 0, Arboleda 0, Arong 0, Belencion 0, Cahilig 0.

CEU 56 – Ebondo 27, Guinitaran 10, Aquino 6, Manlangit 4, Jeruta 3, Arim 2, Saber 2, Uri 2, Casiño 0, Cruz 0, Fuentes 0, Intic 0, Wamar 0.

Quarterscores: 24-11, 39-25, 59-43, 78-56