By Roselyn B. Monroyo
Variety News Staff

ROMAN Rodriguez and Bernard Aquino exploded in the second half to power Hyatt to a 109-83 victory against Saipan Grand Hotel in the 2006-2007 NMBA Inter-Hotel Basketball League/HANMI Cup last Thursday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gym.
Rodriguez and Aquino combined for 45 points to give Hyatt its fourth win in six games.
After scoring only eight points in the first half, Rodriguez drilled nine in the third quarter and increased Hyatt’s lead to 11, 71-60. Hyatt led at halftime, 44-35 with Dexter Dillay and Kriegel Arreza doing the damage.
Aquino, who nailed only three markers in the first half and was held to two points in the third period, saved his best for last firing 17 points in the fourth quarter to secure a 26-point for Hyatt.
Aquino finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, while Rodriguez scored 23 and was named PTI Best Player of the Game. Rodriguez had five triples in the match.
Three other players scored in double figures for Hyatt with Mike Umali chipping in 18, Dillay finishing with 13 and Edmark Mendoza adding 10.
Ferdie Dela Torre paced Saipan Grand with 23, but he could not prevent SGH from absorbing its third straight loss in the 10-team tournament.
In the second match, Ronald Delos Reyes earned back-to-back PTI Best Player of the Game citations after leading Nikko to a 97-81 win over Hafa Adai. He had 28 points in Nikko’s win over World Resort last Tuesday.
Delos Reyes had a double double with 33 points and 15 rebounds.
His 11 points in the second quarter helped Nikko pull away from a 24-20 lead in the first period to a 49-33 halftime advantage.
The Nikko center added 16 more points in the second half, as he got a lot of points from the 15-foot line with the smaller Hafa Adai frontliners ganging up on him in the paint.
Delos Reyes drew a lot of fouls from Hafa Adai players and shot 14-of-17 from the free throw line.