Dragged into the deep waters, the Casino Alcohol-backed Cebu Sharks were able to dig deep, outlasting the fancied Manila Stars in overtime, 91-86, at the San Andres Sports Complex.
In overtime, the duo of Victor Nunez and Harold Cortes pushed Cebu in overtime to power Cebu to its second win in three games.
Patrick Cabahug led Cebu with 27 points, built on five triples, to go along with seven rebounds. William McAloney tallied a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds as well.
Chris Bitoon, who nailed a buzzer-beating trey to send the game into extra time, paced Manila with 20 points while Aris Dionisio tallied 18 points, 12 rebounds, five steals, and five blocks.
Gian Abrigo, who had 12 points and 16 rebounds, needed to step up for the Stars as Carlo Lastimosa was limited to just nine points on 4-of-15 shooting and six turnovers.
Manila dropped its first game in three outings.
In the earlier games, the Rizal Crusaders and the Binan City Heroes barged into the win column of the 2019-20 MPBL Lakan Cup as well.
Behind a balanced attack, Rizal gave Jayvee Gayoso his first win as head coach, racking up a 70-66 win over the hapless Muntinlupa Cagers.
Rizal’s bench proved to be the x-factor in the contest as Jayvee Vidal scored 11 points in just 13 minutes of game time while JB Raflores had himself a game with 10 points and 12 rebounds after going scoreless in their first game.
Mark Benitez anchored the Crusaders as well, finishing with nine points, 11 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks.
Biboy Enguio was the sole bright spot for the Cagers with 17 points, seven rebounds, and four steals.
The Heroes, on the other hand, dealt MiGuard-Nueva Ecija its second straight loss, 98-90.
Mark Acosta and Allan Mangahas led Binan City to its breakthrough win this conference as the former had 19 points while the latter adding 17 points, nine assists, and five steals.
Though Nueva Ecija had six players score in double-digits, it was a foul-plagued game for the cagers from Tarlac as they committed 22 turnovers that led to 34 free throw attempts for Binan City.
Pari Llagas had 16 points and nine boards for the Christian Singson-owned Nueva Ecija squad while Adrian Celada, Jeson Delfinado, and Andrey Armenion had 15 markers each.
JR Cawaling and Jerwin Gaco missed the game for Nueva Ecija, who fell to 1-2.
The Scores:
First Game:
Rizal 70 – Vidal 11, Raflores 10, Inigo 9, Benitez 9, Saliente 9, Regalado 6, Ombecan 5, Lacastesantos 5, Rios 4, Martin 2, Butel 0, Leynes 0.
Muntinlupa 66 – Enguio 17, Villanueva 10, Koga 9, Basibas 7, De Leon 6, Moralde 5, Justiniani 4, Gonzales 4, Po 3, Garcia 1, Buenaflor 0, Guilen 0, Ortuoste 0, Magtoto 0, Guillen 0.
Quarterscores: 16-9, 31-25, 48-45, 70-66.
Second Game:
Binan City 98 – Acosta 19, Mangahas A. 17, Neypes 13, Adolfo 8, Rivera 7, Bautista 7, Pontejos 7, Mangahas J. 6, Orera 5, Parala 4, Stevens 3, Adorio 2, Anonuevo 0, Castanares 0.
Nueva Ecija 90 – Llagas 16, Celada 15, Delfinado 15, Armenion 15, Gozum 12, Dela Cruz 11, Acibar 4, Reyes 2, Tadeo 0, Guiyab 0, Santos 0.
Quarterscores: 21-22, 47-34, 75-66, 98-90.
Third Game:
Cebu 91 – Cabahug 27, McAloney 19, Lao 11, Nunez 9, Cortes 8, Cenita 7, Octobre 4, Ubalde 4, Viloria 2, Villafranca 0, Coronel 0, Poligrates 0, Lee Yu 0.
Manila 86 – Bitoon 20, Dionisio 18, Abrigo 12, Lastimosa 9, Hayes 8, Matias 6, Dyke 5, Go 4, Lee 2, Bringas 2, Lopez 0, Fortuna 0.
Quarterscores: 30-15, 34-43, 59-53, 78-78, 91-86.
