Four thrilling matches marked the opening of the 2016 Next5Hoops Corporate Recreational Division last September 3 at Enderun Colleges.
Ingram Micro, Shopping Center Management Corporation, Cement Mixers scrapped for wins while Emerson Finance zoomed to an opening day victory.
Ingram Micro hung tough against Artesyn, 67-64, keeping a lead no bigger than 6 points in the final 4:40 of the game.
After Artesyn took a brief 53-52 edge with 5:35 left, Ingram Micro had to fight off all attempts for a comeback in a game which saw no team lead by double digits.
Aries Parucha scattered 28 points and registered six rebounds and five assists, Vincent Jorge added 15 points while Medel Dela Torre had 13 points and 11 rebounds for Ingram Micro.
Artesyn got 27 points and 17 rebounds from Robert Carlos but failed to pounce on its advantage down low where it outscored Ingram Micro, 48-30.
Cement Mixers, meanwhile, slipped past Solar Entertainment, 63-62, on a buzzer-beating by Bernie Beluan.
Martin Tombucon found Beluan with a second to go for the heartpounding win here Cement Mixers came back from nine points down and struggled to pull away from Solar.
Tombucon, Beluan and Moriel Lumba combined for 31 points with the former also hauling down a game-high 14 rebounds for Cement Mixers.
Nomar Santiago and Mario Gayagaya had 19 apiece in a losing effort for Solar Entertainment.
Despite leading majority of the way, SCMC also needed to survive Nexus, 70-65, in the other game in the tournament by One Unite Sports.
Back-to-back triples from Nexus in the final 13 seconds gave them a scare but SCMC built a big enough cushion to come away with the debut win.
Four players finished in double-digits for SCMC with Justin Parian leading the way with 19 points and 13 rebounds off the bench.
Nexus was led by Vince Subaldo who had 18 points, all but three coming from beyond the arc, along with rebounds and eight assists.
Emerson Finance blew by Emerson Power, 80-61, in the wire-to-wire win leading by as much as 35 points in the payoff period.
Pantaleon paced Emerson Finance with 15 points while four others contributed at least 10 points in the rout.
Dizon had a game-best 23 points that went along with 14 rebounds for Emerson Power but got no solid back up aside from Lutero who added 14.
