Nueva Ecija rode on a huge fourth quarter breakaway to dump Caloocan, 76-63, and stay undefeated in the PSL Presidents Cup at the FilOil-EcoOil Arena in San Juan on Wednesday, Dec. 6.

Squandering a 10-point lead in the first half and finding themselves down by four heading into the final frame, the Capitals, also known as the Rice Vanguards in the MPBL, uncorked a telling 14-2 spurt to put the game away.

The wards of Jerson Cabiltes was down, 48-52, to open the final frame but veterans Roi Sumang, Roby Celiz and Billy Ray Robles presided over the run that established a 62-54 cushion – a lead Nueva Ecija never relinquished until the final horn to stay undefeated through four games.

Celiz led the attack for Nueva Ecija with 12 points and 10 rebounds while Robles chipped in 11. Chris Bitoon had eight points, seven rebounds and four assists while Sumang also only finished with eight but hit timely baskets down the stretch.

Despite the unbeaten run so far, Cabiltes attributed the inconsistencies in their performance to the lack of chemistry in his team that featured veteran players from his MPBL lineup and a slew of young guns from his players with Emilio Aguinaldo College in the NCAA.

“Actually it’s still very hard to play alongside each other. We’re practicing siguro two to three weeks palang and still iyong pag gamit ko ng tao mahirap pa rin. Yung variation and yung team chemistry hinahanap pa namin,” said Cabiltes.

Gabby Espinas paced Caloocan with 14 points while Reil Cervantes added 10 – all of which were not enough as the Supremos absorbed its first loss through four games.