PBA: Purefoods cruises to easy win over winless Blackwater

Purefoods' Marc Pingris tries to score against Bryan Faundo. KC Cruz

The defending champion Purefoods Star Hotshots booked their first pair of back-to-back wins in the 2015 Philippine Cup with an easy 90-82 win over Blackwater Elite on Tuesday at SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

 

The win improved Purefoods' record to an even 3-3. The Star Hotshots were coming off a 92-76 dismantling of NLEX last Friday, a victory that coach Tim Cone described as a return to form.

 

Peter June Simon, who scored 20 points against NLEX, once again led the Purefoods attack with 18.

 

But Cone still wasn't completely happy with his team's performance.

 

"We certainly didn't play that well," he said. "We played a good game against NLEX but we're still not playing connected basketball."

 

In the end, however, Cone would take the win.

 

"The important thing is we gotta win by one point. Anything else is pogi points," he said.

 

Blackwater remained winless in its maiden tournament after losing its seventh straight outing. — JST, GMA News

 

The scores:

 

PUREFOODS 90 - Simon 18, Devance 16, Maliksi 11, Melton 8, Mallari 8, Pingris 7, Taha 6, Barroca 6, Yap 6, Holstein 3, Reavis 1, Gaco 0, Matias 0, Allado 0.

 

BLACKWATER 82 - Faundo 14, Salvacion 14, Nuyles 12, Artadi 12, Ballesteros 8, Gamalinda 6, Heruela 5, Erram 4, Laure 4, Tiongson 3, Menor 0, Rodriguez 0, Timberlake 0, Celiz 0.

 

Quarters: 26-21, 46-39, 67-58, 90-82