Dubai: Pyramid International Builders, powered by Tekwa Hormillada's fine showing, showed no sign of first-game jitters when they beat Dubai Drydocks 97-86 in the senior division game of the PBA-Dubai Giordano Cup Winter Basketball League at the Al Wasl Club last week.
PIB, their sister team in the Class B division, spearheaded by Ituralde with 21 points, crashed NIL's defence with a 79-61 lopsided win. Hormillada, who bagged the Best Player award, had six steals while teammates Dondon Delos Santos, Tony Betinol, Erwin Villegas, and Russel Badal contributed 18, 14, 13 and 12 points, respectively, for the debutant Pyramid Builders.
Manny Balingit's first career double 17 points and 10 rebounds also led five teammates into double figures, but fell short of catching up as the Builders romped to commanding leads in all the quarters: 32-23, 59-47, 80-66, 97-86.
Kiko Delos Reyes and Alex Calueng chipped in with 13 apiece, while William Miller and Arnold Aguila had 12 points each for the Docksiders' first loss in the double round-robin elimination series.
In Class B, Al Hedaya clobbered the Asemco Dragons 100-70. Jason Araneta top-scored with 26 points, including a 15-point splurge in the last quarter.
Fixtures
Friday's matches: (9 am) Chika Grill v NIL; (10.50am) PIB v Barangay Satwa; (12.40pm) Tropang Batangas v Leader Sports; (2.30pm) Digital Clues v Maharlika/Coriner Cargo (Class A); (4.40pm) Fairmont Hotel v Ibis/Novotel; (6.30pm) PIB v UAE Exchange (Class A).
