TEAM Batangas used a strong first half on the way to a lopsided 95-76 win over AMA Online Education on Thursday in the Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League Foundation Cup at the Ynares Sports Center in Pasig City.
Japs Bautista finished with 22 points and Joseph Sedurifa had 16 for the Batangueños, who bounced back from a 72-70 heartbreaker against Centro Escolar University last week.
Cedric Ablaza scored 11 points and Wilmar Andeson chipped in 10 for Batangas, which improved to a 3-1 (win-loss) record.
“I think the exposure we had last conference helped the team to mature. At this point, they know what direction we want to go,” Batangas Coach Eric Gonzales said.
“Hopefully, we will be able continue to build on our early victories. We want to win as many games early on to hopefully get to the next round. I keeping my fingers crossed that we would make it to the quarters.”
Batangas also got a lot of contribution from its bench, which outscored AMA’s second stringers, 53-35, in a game that had them leading by as many as 22 points.
It was the fourth loss for the winless Titans, who provided only a token of a challenge largely because they executed their plays as poorly as they play defense.
It appeared majority of the Titans rate their skills depending on how many points they score. They rarely pass the ball and seldom provide screens to create scoring opportunities.
Ivan Villanueva scored 14 points, while Renzo Subido and Kris Alas added 13 and 12, respectively, of the bench for the Titans.