By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The TEJ Builders and the Iloilo Executives were the first two teams to clinch two straight wins in the ongoing 2022 Mayor Jerry P. Treñas New Normal Sporting Event basketball men’s tournament.
Coach Rhodel Camacho and his TEJ boys once again proved to be one of the peskiest defensive teams in the league after outlasting team MDC, 75-61.
Despite a high-octane performance during their first win against LEADGEN, team TEJ showed no signs of fatigue and still performed at a high level, using their signature full-court defensive pressure to make things hard for team MDC.
MDC’s mentor coach Jophil Cercado attempted to match TEJ’s intensity by putting in his wing scorers but it wasn’t enough to secure their second-straight win.
Meanwhile, in the last game of the open category, the Iloilo Executives pummeled team J. Cordon, 94-68, and was one of the most highly-anticipated matchups of the tournament.
The Executives looked like a different team from their past game against Asia Link and showed their true potential as they just outplayed J. Cordon from the get-go until the final buzzer.
It was a balanced scoring attack for coach Matthew Montalvo as the Executives got enough offensive lift from all of their guys including their bench players.
John Lester Samones was again a beast and earned his second-straight Tanduay Best Player of the Game after chipping in 25 points, nine rebounds, and two assists.
In the other games of the tournament, team Uni Wheels annihilated Rebisco, 109-60, while team Asia Link bounced back against the Biron-Golez team, 85-74.
