Jai Reyes lights it up as Go for Gold secures top two

The Go for Gold Scratchers secured a place in the top two of the 2018 PBA D-League Foundation Cup with an 86-71 trouncing of the Marinerong Pilipino-TIP Engineers, Monday at Ynares Sports Arena.

Jai Reyes waxed hot from downtown as his three triples led him to 19 points, while also collecting eight assists, six rebounds, and three steals.

Dan Wong also chipped in 14 points and three rebounds, while Gab Banal churned out an all-around outing with his 13 points, seven boards, five steals, and four dimes in his return from a two-game absence for the Scratchers.

Go for Gold held Marinerong Pilipino-TIP at bay in the third quarter, limiting the Engineers to just eight in the period as the Scratchers pulled away to an 18-point lead at the end of the period, 61-43, which would extend to as much as 23, 69-46 with a Vince Tolentino foul shot with 7:11 to play in the fourth frame.

“They just played better defense. They played some good defense so that’s basically it for us,” remarked coach Charles Tiu. “We won’t score as much as we want to, but if we play defense, we’ll have a chance to win every game.”

Go for Gold now turns its attention to Che’Lu Bar and Grill for a battle to decide the top-seed on Thursday.

Marinerong Pilipino-TIP, meanwhile, will clash against CEU in the final playdate for the right for the three-seed.

Abu Tratter carried the Engineers with 16 points and eight rebounds in the losing effort as they saw their three-game winning streak snapped.

The Scores:

Go for Gold 86 – Reyes 19, Wong 14, Banal 13, Pili 12, Publico 10, Tolentino 5, Porter 4, Salem 4, Cipriano 3, Gaco 2.

Marinerong Pilipino-TIP 71 – Tratter 16, Enguio 10, Manalang 9, Ndiaye 9, Jackson 7, Palencia 7, Johnson 5, Medina 4, Napoles 4, Matignas 0, I. Santos 0, Thiele 0.

Quarterscores: 13-14, 36-35, 61-43, 86-71.