TITLE favorites San Juan and Makati took different paths before carving out their second win in as many matches in the MPBL Lakan Season even as expansion team Iloilo debuted in thrilling fashion at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
The Knights squandered a 21-point lead but regained their composure to hack out a 74-72 win over the Pasay Voyagers.
Larry Rodriguez came away with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Knights, who needed John Wilson’s big stop in the endgame against Jan Jamon to hold off the Voyagers.
Makati used its solid defense and experience to turn back upstart Bacolod-Master Sardines, 84-74, in the other game.
The Super Crunch forced their rivals to a spate of turnovers and their lock down defense baffled the expansion team, which lost for the first time in two games.
Makati’s defense on Mark Tallo, who exploded for 31 in his debut game, proved to be the big difference as the former PBA player was held to just 11 markers on 4-of-15 shooting from the field. The ex-NLEX guard, however, dished out nine assists and grabbed nine boards.
Makati also forced its rival to commit 20 turnovers that resulted in 21 points.
Overshadowed by the favorites’ contrasting victories was Iloilo’s thrilling 67-64 triumph over Parañaque.
Richard Escoto buried a buzzer-beating trey in the final seconds to lift the expansion squad to a promising start in the regional league.
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