THE Laguna Krah Asia Heroes made MPBL history for the wrong reason on Tuesday when they lost to the Bataan Risers via forfeiture.
The Heroes came in 45 minutes late for the supposed tipoff at 4 p.m. at the Nueva Ecija Coliseum in Palayan City, forcing crew chief Jovet Ocfemia to declare them losers without a shot being fired.
Laguna forfeiture mars MPBL Tuesday gameday
In March 2021, Basilan was declared the loser in the Lakan Season South Division finals knockout match against Davao Occidental via default after four of their players tested positive for COVID-19 following a re-swab.
Laguna's case was the first forfeiture in the MPBL under such nature.
Under the league house rules, the competing teams must be in the venue 15 minutes before the game starts. A team that misses it is entitled to a 15-minute grace period, after which the forfeiture will be applied.
In effect, Bataan notched its 11th win against 12 defeats and remained in playoff contention.
Already out of the running, Laguna tumbled to 3-21.
In the other game that went on as planned, the Quezon Huskers went full throttle and subdued the Valenzuela XUR Homes Realty Inc. squad, 89-77, before another big crowd.
Playing listlessly, Quezon trailed Valenzuela after three quarters, 56-62, caught up midway through the fourth (70-70), before pouring it on in the last 3 minutes and 10 seconds behind Robin Rono.
Rono poured 10 of his team-high 16 points in a 15-point cluster that propelled the Huskers to their 16th win against six losses in the round-robin elimination phase of the 29-team tournament.
With Michael Angelo Macion bunching five points, Valenzuela last led at 75-74 before going silent and suffering its 20th loss in 23 games.
Rono was supported by Jason Opiso with 14 points and 11 rebounds, JK Casino with 11 points and Raffy Verano and RJ Minerva with 10 points each.
Valenzuela got 18 points from Macion and 17 from Darell Manliguez.
The MPBL visits the Bren Guiao Convention Center on Thursday with a triple bill pitting Bulacan against Oriental Mindoro at 4 p.m., Quezon City against Caloocan at 6 p.m., and Paranaque against Pampanga at 8 p.m.
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