(MENAFN- Arab Times) Ferreira helped re-energize the Dragons in his third start of the season and the Dragons outshone Balleros 69-51 Friday afternoon as the KPBA basketball conferences continue at the Sultan Centre Sports Complex.
Defying a deafening roar from the passionate Dragons fans, Balleros took the lead from the get go, MVP of the game, Lopez drawing first blood with a pulsating 3-pointer to kick off the Balleros campaign. Balleros extended their lead to finish the opening quarter with a 4-point cushion at 21-17.
The Dragons rallied back into the game in the second quarter as Ferreira hit the opposition hoop in quick succession early in the round, receiving feeds mostly from forward D'Man.
Dragons managed to claw back their deficit to 1 point with one minute left to the turn of the half, and then Olipindo lobbed the ball from outside the Balleros box to push the Dragons 2 points ahead, 32-30.
Dragons, led by Ferreira in the third and final rounds pulled away in the final stretch as the captain led the charge with 19 points on 13-of-16 shooting and five rebounds. He was aided by D'Man, who racked up 16 and four assists. The third and final rounds ended 15-10 and 25-22 to hand Dragons the 18-point win at 69-51.
"We had a very difficult match, we got our rhythm only in the third quarter and final quarters and made the most of the chances that came our way to the very final minute", said Dragons playmaker Ferreira as he headed for the shower.
On the other hand, the resurgent Taxi Slashers side never looked back as they edged Desert Force 70-69. Led by majestic playmaker and captain of the side Zalavarian, who is also the game's top scorer at 25 points and four assists, Taxi Slashers engineered a 5-point cushion in a 14-12 run at the close of the first half and 70-69 in the second to close the game.
The more athletic Desert Force team was confined to 69 field goals from 122 attempts by an ironclad Taxi Slashers defense which forced their rivals to take a series of difficult long-range shots.
Elsewhere in the weekend games, Vitalicio chalked a double double as he knocked down 32 points and eleven rebounds to lead Hasaqur to an 88-63 win against Bagito in the third game of the day.
Hasaqur managed to peel away with a 19-point cushion at the end of the first half, 38-19 and never looked back as Hasaqur kept their momentum to close the gap to the very final buzzer with 25 points still separating the sides at 88-63.
Meanwhile in the penultimate game, Alvaro and Viloria had 21 points apiece to lead LCC to an easy 70-55 win against Bahay Kubo. Hitting 24-of-66 from the floor with 10- of-19 from 3-point range, the LCC kept Kubo to 19-of-55 from the court and only 4-of-27 from beyond the arc as the game progressed on Friday.
Center Maralit led Kubo with 14 points and 10 rebounds while his teammate Chivo, who had been averaging 13 points, had 8 points, 7 rebounds and eight assists. LCC opened a 51-37 edge in the third quarter before a 17-11 Kubo run in which Samson scored 10 points and Chivo added eight, cutting the LCC lead to 69-52. But LCC persisted to the end, winning the game by a 15-point cushion at 70-55.
In the final game, Gaponians beat LXG 86-78, Ian of Gaponians maxing out scoring at 26 points while Lopez of LXG had 25 points.
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