CENTERPHIL Montessori Silver Knights and Hercor College Junior Jaguars got to a winning start in the 2nd Exsems Basketball Invitational Pocket Tournament on Sunday night at the Agusto B. Legaspi Sports Complex in Kalibo, Aklan.
Silver Knights recovered from a slow start to score an 86-78 victory over Exsems Aklan Selection while Junior Jaguars cruised to a lopsided 84-66 win over Hua Siong College of Iloilo Red Phoenix.
Down 6 points at the end of the opening period, the Silver Knights got their shooting going in the second quarter behind Lester Valn Paraico and Ronald Silorio for a 37-30 halftime lead.
The Silver Knights widened the lead further 66-51 at the end of third canto. The Aklanons countered with a run in the fourth frame but CenterPhil got timely shots to seal the victory.
Paraico led the way with 31 points, while Silorio, Adrian Germinal and Jose Rey Tuya combined for 36 for the Silver Knights. John Deo Magdaluyo was the lone bright spot for the Exsems Aklan with 23 points.
In the other match, the Junior Jaguars and the Red Phoenix were in a toe-to-toe battle early in the opening period but the latter slowly increased their advantage to 12 at the half.
The Red Phoenix put up a fight in the third quarter, coming to as close as 8 points, but the Junior Jaguars regained their shooting touch in the fourth and widened the lead to 20 points.
Janwell Famaranco had 20 points while Felix Corpuz and Raffy Arguelles had 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Junior Jaguars. Reynold Tupas and Carlo Miguel Paguntalan had 13 markers each for the Red Phoenix./PN
