Coming from a tough loss against Bacolod last Saturday, Basilan-Jumbo Plastic bounced back with an 86-79 win over Cebu-Casino Ethyl Alcohol in the 2019-20 Chooks-to-Go/MPBL Lakan Cup on Tuesday at the San Andres Sports Complex.
It was a huge win for Basilan, as it raised its slate to 17-10 in the Southern Division. Meanwhile, divisional rival Cebu drop to ninth with an 11-13 card.
“Sabi ko talaga sa kanila, it’s a must-win ball game for us kasi dikit-dikit ang standing. A loss will drop us to sixth or seventh, kaya kailangan talaga namin itong panalo na ‘to,” said Basilan head coach Jerson Cabiltes.
With less than five minutes remaining in the game, the troika of Rhaffy Octobre, Jaybee Mantilla, and Joel Lee Yu conspired in a 6-0 blast for Cebu to cut a once 10-point lead to just four points, 72-76.
The two teams then exchanged baskets before Allyn Bulanadi decided to pull the strings for Basilan. Up by six points, the 23-year-old Gilas pool member drained a mid-range bucket with 1:21 left to help the Steel take an 84-76 cushion.
He then dished a pass to Cris Dumapig, who converted a one-hander to stretch the lead to 10 points with 37.82 seconds to take the fight out of the Sharks.
Dumapig delivered 17 points and seven boards. Bulanadi provided 15 points, five rebounds, and four assists.
Meanwhile, Octobre poured 18 points for Cebu.
The Scores:
Basilan-Jumbo Plastic (86) – Dumapig 17, Bulanadi 15, Collado 12, Gabo 11, Bautista 8, Dagangon 7, Bringas 6, Manalang 5, Daa 4, Palencia 0, Uyloan 0
Cebu-Casino Ethyl Alcohol (78) – Octobre 18, Ubaldo 12, McAloney 12, Mantilla 12, Lee Yu 6, Cortes 5, Saycon 4, Nunez 4, Lao 2, Huang 1, Viloria 0
Quarterscores: 21-21, 42-36, 65-53, 86-78
Story by Jonash Dannug
Photo by Thel Suliva
