Flores stars as Mandaue Jaycees-B wins opener of JBA finals

CEBU, Philippines - Former FEU Tamaraws star guard Paul Alelu Flores pumped in a game-high 25 points as the Mandaue Jaycees-Team B of Joey Cal pinned down Rich Media of Richard Mercado, 71-63, to take a 1-0 upstart in the best-of-three finals series of the Jaycees Basketball Association (JBA) 2009 First Conference at the Benedicto College gym in Mandaue City.

The Mandaue Jaycees-B could practically wrap up the crown with another win tonight.

The Mandaue-B threw a porous defensive blanket to limit Rich Media to only nine points in the final period.

Rich Media actually was headed for an upset as it enjoyed a 54-46 lead at the start of the final period but could not sustain its momentum the rest of the way.

Army Marata heavily backed up Flores with 14 points. Beboy Potencioso topped Rich Media with 24 points.

Earlier Mandaue Jaycees-A settled for third place after scoring a 92-76 victory over the Uptown Jaycees of playing coach Dr. Boy Te.

The red-hot Edgar Colina topscored for Mandaue-A with 35 points spiked with a tournament-record 10 triples. Patindol, Luther Magallano, Genghis Khan Ylaya and Joshua Lerio also keyed the 16-point rout with 47 points combined.

Te posted a season-best 20 points in a losing effort. Peter Sta. Maria and Te’s son Franco connived for 23 markers.

The scores

For third

Mandaue-A (92) - Colina 35, Patiundol 17, Magallano 10, Ylaya 10, Lerio 10, E. Latonio 8, R. Latonio 2

 Uptown Jaycees (76) - B. Te 20, Sausa 20, P. Sta. Maria 12, F. Te 11, C. Sta. Maria 6, R. Lim 5, Noel 2

Game 1, Finals

Mandaue-B (71) - Flores 25, Marata 14, J. Acebron 7, D. Acebron 6, R. Garcia 5, Toledo 4, Cal 3, Balbuena 3, Coros 3, P. Garcia 2, Cortes 2

Rich Media (63) - Potencioso 24, Estella 11, Basanes 8, Lo 7, Huang 5, Mercado 3, Odulio 2, Ting 2, Sy 1. - GGM (THE FREEMAN)