Powerade eliminates Shopinas

MANILA, Philippines – The Powerade Tigers used a huge second half to ease the Shopinas.com Clickers out of contention, 102-84, in the PBA Philippines Cup on Friday.

According to PBA.ph, rookie Marcio Lassiter and Doug Kramer teamed up for 15 of the Tigers’ 34 points in the 3rd period to break away from the Clickers.

The victory snapped Powerade’s 4-game losing-streak and brought their playoff hopes to life.

“What’s more difficult than losing is the thought that we could have won perhaps two out of the four games we just lost,” said Powerade coach Bo Perasol.

“It’s been a struggle in our minds why we lost games when we could have won it… But I think we have the mindset that we wouldn’t give up.”

Lassiter led the Tigers with 21 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds. Kramer had 17 points and 10 rebounds.

James Sena topscored for the Clickers with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Elmer Espiritu, Paul Escobal, and Paolo Hubalde added 12 points each.

Powerade now has a 4-7 win-loss record, while Shopinas.com remained winless in 12 games.

According to PBA.ph, the Clickers are just 1 defeat away from matching the longest losing streak in a PBA conference.

The record is held by Great Taste in 1982 and Country Fair in 1984.