SPRING Cooking Oil-Laguna dropped a 16-4 bomb in the third quarter en route to an 81-72 victory over Forward Taguig at the C.P. Tinga gym Sunday night on the eve of its departure for the Sultan Cup invitational basketball tournament in Brunei.
Lanky forward Rodel Manuel combined with 6-foot-9 Faheem Nelson to erase Taguig's 50-48 lead and power the Cooking Oil Masters to a 62-50 advantage going into the final canto.
"I had a long flight, but I'm ready to play," said Nelson, who will reinforce Spring-Laguna together with 6-6 Keith Friel in the Brunei cagefest.
The team of NBC president Nathaniel "Tac" Padilla and Laguna Gov. Teresita Lazaro left Monday afternoon. Spring-Laguna was pitted against Chinese-Taipei's Choun Tzu Yu Lon last night.
The team was led by National Basketball Conference (NBC) sec-gen Tito Palma, Dennis Lazaro, Dennis Villa-Ignacio and Vic Sanchez. The members are playing coach Mike Buendia, Nani Epondulan, Marlon Kalaw, Chris Corbin, Rodel Manuel, Mike Garcia, Mar Reyes, Robin Mendoza, Danny Capobres and Christian Nicdao.
After taking that 12-point lead, the Cooking Oil Masters never looked back.
Also playing in the Brunei cagefest are Red Bull Barako and Purefoods of the PBA, Shanghai Sharks, TG Sambo Xers and the Taiwanese.
The scores:
LAGUNA 81-Epondulan 15, Nelson 14, Manuel 10, Reyes 7, Garcia 6, Capobres 6, Kalaw 5, Mendoza 4, Serrano 2, Caceres 0, Buendia 0.
TAGUIG 72-Gumatay 17, Robillos 11, Magsambol 8, Bernardino 8, Ricafuente 7, Reyes 4, Roldan 4, Alberto 3, Go-bon 2, De Guia 0, Vilar 0.