ALCANTARA — MJAS Zenith-Talisay City continues to cruise against the competition, snatching its seventh straight win with a 104-75 rout of Tabogon in the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup, Friday at the Civic Center here in Cebu.
In their previous two matches, the Aquastars had to make adjustments in the second half to take control of the game. This time, though, they did not wait as long. Instead, they asserted themselves in the second canto and outscored the Voyagers, 27-12, to build a 19-point lead at halftime, 47-28.
Lord Casajeros and homegrown talent Joshua Dela Cerna were particularly lethal during that stretch. The two combined to score the team’s last nine points before the halftime buzzer. From there, it was all Talisay City, as their reserves took full advantage of the extra playing time and wreaked havoc upon the Voyagers’ defense.
Talisay City remains perfect in this tournament at 7-0 while Tabogon’s rollercoaster campaign continued as they fell to 3-4.
The Voyagers were coming off a morale-boosting 76-73 win over the heavily-favored ARQ Builders Lapu-Lapu Heroes on Thursday night but failed to bring the energy against Talisay City, which led to the 29-point defeat.
With none of the Aquastars’ starters playing more than 14 minutes, five reserves scored in double-figures. Dela Cerna and Gimpayan led the way with 14 points each. Dela Cerna, a former standout of the Cebu Institute of Technology-University in the CESAFI, added four boards, four assists, and a steal in 20 minutes of action.
Jan Jamon added 12 points, six rebounds, and two assists while Patrick Cabahug, Dave Moralde, and Egie Boy Mojica tallied 11 markers apiece.
In all, Talisay City’s reserves combined to score a whopping 84 points while their counterparts managed just 32.
“This is our third game in four days and we have another game tomorrow. Buti we were able to manage the minutes of our players and no one played more than 20 minutes,” said Aquastars head coach Aldrin Morante.
Hubalde, the team’s skipper, tipped his hat off to the team’s reserves for their dominant showing against the Voyagers.
“Everyone is important naman sa team but hats off to my guys for going hard today,” shared Hubalde.
Arvie Bringas and Joemari Lacastesantos led Tabogon with 14 points each while Christian Diaz had a double-double performance of 13 points and 11 rebounds.
MJAS-Talisay closes out its week when it takes on KCS-Mandaue tomorrow at 8:00PM. Before that game, Tabogon takes on Tubigon Bohol at 2:00PM.
The Scores:
Talisay City (104) — Dela Cerna 14, Gimpayan 14, Jamon 12, Cabahug 11, Moralde 11, Mojica 11, Casajeros 7, Mabigat 6, Hubalde 4, Menina 4, Egilos 3, Cuyos 3, Santos 2, Villafranca 2, Acuña 0.
Tabogon (75) — Bringas 14, Lacastesantos 14, Diaz 13, Bersabal 10, Orquina 9, Caballero 6, Sombero 4, Vitug 3, Delos Reyes 2.
Quarterscores: 20-16, 47-28, 73-47, 104-75
