DEFENDING champions Teletech Titans and the Lexmark Stallions beat lower-ranked foes to advance to the semifinal round of the 2011 Powerade E-League for Basketball at the City Sports Club-Cebu Gym.
The fourth-seed Titans edged the Aegis People Support Vipers, 100-95, while the third-ranked Stallions ousted the Calltek Trojans, 69-57.
Teletech and Lexmark hold twice-to-beat advantages going into the quarters for finishing in the top after the eliminations. The two teams, however, made sure that there will be no sudden-death games by winning their first games to advance to the semis against still to be determined foes.
The Titans used a balanced attack in conquering the Vipers with Lourenz Limpangog scoring 22 points, Sherwin Emmanuelle Resilla firing 18 points, Ad Roel Laboga submitting 15 and Sherwin Anghay and Shem Japheth Banua adding 10 each for Teletech, which recovered from a 15-21 first quarter deficit with a 25-16 run in the second period.
Clifford Amarado exploded for 30 points but still failed to save the fifth-seed Vipers from elimination. Ryan Veloso added 17, while Mariel Vincent Barrera and John Louie Arriesgado had 11 and 10, respectively.
Franco Angelo Cipriano, meanwhile, was the lone Lexmark player to score in double figures with 13 but had 10 teammates scoring at least two points.
Mark Louise Gellez scored 17, Jan Pierre Gellez finished with 16 and Aerl Genebraldo added for the Trojans, whose impressive run this year ended with the 12-point loss.
Despite the loss, the Trojans still found reason to be proud after finishing the season with a 10-5 (win-loss) record after tallying just three wins last season.
The quarterfinal battles will continue on Saturday with the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds Stream Blue Devils and Convergys Wolves playing the Accenture Sharks and the Eperformax Reds, respectively. /EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CALVIN D. CORDOVA