Cebu Classic’s Jeco Bancale (leftmost) swipes the ball off the hands of a 1Bataan player during their MPBL game. | MPBL photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu Classic continues to endure growing pains as one of the new teams in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) Season 25 after absorbing their second consecutive defeat.
Cebu Classic fell to the equally struggling 1Bataan Risers, 69-79, on Thursday night, March 20, at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. The victory marked 1Bataan’s first win after three games.
Homegrown player Jeco Bancale, a former Mapua Cardinal, delivered a promising performance for the Classic, tallying 12 points in 20 minutes of play.
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He shot 2-of-9 from the field, with half of his points coming from the free-throw line. Bancale also contributed three rebounds and three assists in Cebu Classic’s losing effort.
Dannis Santos added 11 points and five boards, while another homegrown talent, Mark Meneses, finished with a double-double of 10 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block.
Veteran Paolo Hubalde had a quiet game, managing only eight points in 21 minutes, but he chipped in five rebounds and five assists. Limuel Tampus also contributed nine markers as Cebu Classic dropped to a 1-2 (win-loss) record.
On the opposing side, Yves Sazon and Jeff Santos led 1Bataan’s charge with 12 points each. Santos grabbed two rebounds, one steal, and an assist, while Sazon added two assists and a rebound. Robbi Marion Darang also made his presence felt, finishing with 11 points, eight rebounds, and five assists.
Decent start but …
Cebu Classic had a decent start, taking an early lead in the first period. However, miscues led to turnovers, allowing 1Bataan to tie the game at 15-all by the end of the quarter.
Both teams traded baskets in the second period, resulting in multiple lead changes. Cebu led by as many as five points, 28-23, following Bancale’s triple midway through the quarter. They stretched their lead to six, 30-24, before Dolan Adlawan capped the first half with a jumper, giving Cebu a 31-28 advantage at the break.
Cebu extended their lead to 10 points early in the third, thanks to the efforts of Meneses and Ladis Lepalam.
1Bataan comeback
However, 1Bataan steadily chipped away at the deficit, with Sazon and Santos orchestrating the comeback. Santos gave 1Bataan the lead, 45-44, with a timely layup midway through the third period.
Cebu Classic kept the game close and trailed by only six, 50-56, entering the final period. But Darang ignited 1Bataan’s offense with a short scoring burst, capped by his three-pointer, pushing their lead to 13 points.
1Bataan stretched their lead to 15, 65-50, after back-to-back baskets from Dominic Vera and Darang, sealing the win as Cebu Classic failed to recover.
Cebu Classic will try to bounce back in their next two games against the San Juan Knights and Manila Batang Quiapo on March 24 and 29, respectively.