Pioneers crush Bandits in E-League hoopfest

AFTER an impressive debut, league-newcomers Talleco Bandits stumbled in their second outing, losing badly to the Sykes Pioneers, 59-89, last Saturday  in the 2013 E-League for Basketball at the City Sports Club-Cebu Gym.

The Bandits started their maiden campaign with a 69-57 win over the Teleperformance Lions but struggled to get their game going against the Pioneers as they got blown out early and failed to recover after trailing at the half, 31-53.

Eareckson Buyan tallied 14 points, Jan Sahilan finished with 13, while Anthony Tapere nailed 12 in Sykes’ third win in four outings.

Jerome Roden fired 17 markers, Mark Matidios piled up 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Karl Buena had 11 for the losing Bandits.

The Calltek Trojans, likewise, listed their third victory in four games after they escaped the Eperformax Reds, 58-54.

Calltek outscored Eperformax in the final half, 30-25, to seal the tight win.

Christian Judilla led the Trojans with 18 points, while Mark Louise Gellez donated 12.

Rafel Jose Cuico was the lone player to score in double figures for Eperformax with 10 points as the Reds failed to duplicate their rousing 98-37 trashing of Executive Boutique the last time out.

In the other game, the Wipro Tigers posted their own come-from-behind, downing the Teleperformance Lions, 55-52./EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CALVIN D. CORDOVA