PHILHEALTH drubbed the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), 57-44, last Wednesday for its third win in five games (3-2), while BIR dropped to 2-4 in the ongoing elimination round of the Association of Regional Executives in National Agencies (ARENA), Region 7 basketball tournament at the DPWH covered court in SRP, Cebu City.
Philhealth jumped to a, 17-11 lead in the first quarter but the Revenuers responded with a 14-7 run in the second stanza to grab a hairline, 25-25 advantage at the half.
However, Philhealth torched the third period with a blistering, 17-9 run ignited by Richard Arco and Carlo Yu for a comfortable, 41-34, tally heading to the final 10 minutes. The fourth saw Philhealth outscoring BIR, 16-10 for the comfortable win.
Arco and Yu led Philhealth with 20 and 10 points, respectively, while Leo Galvez paced BIR with 13 markers, the only double digit scorer from the losing team.
BOX SCORES
PHILHEALTH (57)- Arco 20, Yu 10, Macatol 6, Yap 6, Sasing 4, Magallanes 4, Anadon 2, Catad 2, Ramas 2, Reyes 1.
BIR (44)- Galvez 13, Baclayon 7, California 4, Diamos 4, Limbaroc 4, Del Rosario 4, Meso 3, Cavan 3, Dizon 2. /Correspondent Dale Rosal