SAN JUAN turned back Cebu’s late fightback to give Mike Philips a winning debut in the form of an 81-73 victory in MPBL Season 8 on Thursday at the Cuneta Astrodome.
The 6-foot-8 big man made his presence felt right away for the Knights, finishing with nine points, 15 rebounds, one steal, and one block in his first professional outing.
“Medyo kabado ako noong una,” Phillips admitted to SPIN.ph. “Pero alam ko na ngayon na maraming nasa likod ko. Yung mga kuya ko dito sa team, ganda talaga yung tinuturo nila sa akin kaya medyo gumaan yung load ko.”
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Trailing by one after one quarter, the Knights unleashed a 22-6 surge in the next canto to wrest full control and dictate the tempo heading into the second half.
Cebu refused to go away quietly, as Wowie Escosio and Ron Dennison led a late push that trimmed the deficit to just five in the closing minutes. But Reyland Torres and the rest of the Knights held firm to secure a second straight win.
Gerry Abadiano once again stood out for San Juan with 15 points and two rebounds, while Michael Calisaan added 12 markers and five boards.
“I had isang week na sa practice na kasama ko sa team. So naghanda ako with them. Maganda din 'yung preparations namin sa team kaya naging ready kami,” Phillips stated.
Mark Meneses delivered a monster 17-point, 17-rebound effort while Brian Heruela and Escosio chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively, in Cebu's first loss after an opening win.
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