DEFENDING champion Stream Ingenyouity and the Eperformax Reds boosted their chances of a top finish in the northern division after they pulled off separate wins last Saturday in the 2012 Sun Cellular E-League for Basketball at the City Sports Club-Cebu Gym.
Stream nailed an easy 67-42 win over the Kyocera Frontiers, while the Eperformax scored its own blowout win against the 1&1 Marauders, 91-60.
Edward Castañeda scored 14 points, John Jess Cajuelan finished with 10 points, while Benjie Mancao and Sylvester Millevo added nine points each for Stream, which tallied its sixth win in seven games.
Eliot Emerson Uy was the lone bright spot for Kyocera, scoring 19 points in the team’s second loss in four games.
Raymond Dennis Tan, on the other hand, fired 15 points, Mark Jeffrey Baello and Jiffy Epe pitched in 14 points apiece, Joel Nebria contributed 13 and Alejandro Ruiz had 12 as the Reds pocketed their fifth victory in six outings.
Nathan Gabriel Buot, Raymaond Basañez and Orland Bastida all scored in double figures but their combined 37 points went down the drain as the Marauders dropped to 3-5 (win-loss).
In a lone southern division games, Kenneth Robert Abrantes exploded for 29 points to power the Odusee Rooz to a close 70-67 win over the Lexmark Stallions.
The Rooz, who improved to 3-2, also got solid games from Earl Abellanosa, Romnick Igot and Acie Degoro, who finished with 13, 11 and 10, respectively.
Franco Angelo Cipriano scored 20 points, Mervin Balansag had 11 for the Stallions, who slipped to 2-4. /EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CALVIN D. CORDOVA