Vanguards plug bleeding with close win against Basilan in VisMin Super Cup
Cebu’s Monic Soliva who plays for Basilan tries to drive the ball past Roxas’s defense during their VisMin Super Cup game. | Photo from VisMin Super Cup Media Bureau.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Roxas Vanguards plugged back-to-back losses after defeating the BRT Basilan Peace Riders, 79-70 on Thursday, in the ongoing Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup Mindanao Challenge at the Pagadian City Gymnasium.
The Vanguards clinched their sixth win against five losses and created a three-way tie for third place with Zamboanga Sibugay and Pagadian.
The Peace Riders are at sixth place with a, 4-7 (win-loss) record.
The Peace Riders tried to crawl back in the final period by unleashing a 15-2 run to close the gap to six, 72-66, with 3:22 to go.
However, Roxas’s James Martinez, Marlon Monte, and Nick Abanto retaliated with their own buckets to maintain Roxas’s lead by a considerable margin until the final buzzer.
“Ang game plan namin talaga ay dumepensa, noong nawala ‘yun nakahabol ang Basilan kaya bumalik lang kami sa depensa,” said Roxas head coach Alvin Grey.
Abanto led the Vanguards with 20 points from his 10-of-14 field goal clip. He pulled down 18 boards and had four blocks.
Martinez had his best game for Roxas with 17 points, while Monte added 10 points.
Darwin Lunor tallied 23 points to go with six rebounds in Basilan’s loss. Jorem Morada chalked up 21 points alongside six rebounds, five assists, and five steals for the losers.
The Peace Riders will enter the quarterfinals at the sixth spot and will face the eventual third seed.
Both clubs will close the elimination round tomorrow.
Basilan faces Zamboanga Sibugay at 4 pm, while Roxas caps the night against Globalport-MisOr at 6:30 pm. /rcg
BOX SCORES:
Roxas 79 – Abanto 20, Martinez 17, Monte 10, Segura 7, Tabi 6, Basco 5, Valin 5, Dela Cruz 5, Mabigat 2, Mandreza 2, Templo 0.
Basilan 70 – Lunor 23, Morada 21, Panganiban 8, Ansaldo 3, Saliddin 2, Albina 2, Daa 2, Ferrer 2, Soliva 2, Royo 2, Luciano 1, Bulac 0, Solis 0.
Quarterscores: 13-12, 40-36, 66-51, 79-70.
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