ALCANTARA, CEBU - MJAS Zenith-Talisay City stayed unbeaten in the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup by outlasting ARQ Builders Lapu-Lapu City, 84-75, on Saturday afternoon at the Civic Center.
The win improved Talisay's record to 4-0 while Lapu Lapu suffered first loss in three games in its return to action after a controversial game against Siquijor led to suspensions and fines to some of its top players.
Despite missing some of their best players, the Heroes held a 67-64 lead with six minutes left after a three-pointer by Hafer Mondragon.
However, Patrick Cabahug tied the game with a triple and later gave the Aquastars the lead with a layup.
Darrell Shane Menina and Paulo Hubalde hit two three-pointers while big man Jhaymo Eguilos capped the huge 16-2 run with a three-point play that put Talisay ahead, 80-69, with just 2:34 remaining.
“Kailangan talaga magising ang team namin,” said Talisay coach Aldrin Morante. “Lahat ng teams dito gusto kami talunin. Magigising talaga kami ngayon.”
Eguilos led Talisay City with 18 points and eight rebounds while Cabahug finished with 17 points, five boards, four assists, and two steals. Hubalde finished with 16 points, seven boards, and nine assists.
The Heroes missed the services of Jojo Tangkay, Reed Juntilla, Monbert Arong, Dawn Ochea, and Ferdinand Lusdoc, who were all suspended.
In their absence, Vincent Minguito was Lapu Lapu's high-point man with 13 points. He also grabbed seven boards and blocked five shots. Chris Regero added 12 while Jerrick Cañada filled the stat sheets with 10 points, 15 assists, and eight rebounds.
The scores:
Talisay City (84) — Eguilos 18, Cabahug 17, Hubalde 16, Gimpayan 9, Menina 9, Mojica 6, Santos 4, Villafranca 2, Moralde 0, Alvarez 0, Jamon 0.
Lapu-Lapu City (75) — Minguito 13, Regero 12, Cañada 10, Arong 10, Mondragon 9, Berame 8, Abad 4, Solis 0, Igot 0.
Quarterscores: 25-15, 40-39, 55-54, 84-75
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