PAGADIAN, ZAMBOANGA DEL SUR — Kapatagan earned its breakthrough win after an 82-78 squeaker over Iligan in the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup Mindanao Challenge, Thursday night at the Pagadian City Gymnasium here.
Knotted at 74, Buffalo’s Jonel Bonganciso followed Edrian Lao’s miss for the lead. Then JR Saga drained a reverse layup, 78-74.
But Jack Hoyohoy retaliated with back-to-back buckets to forge another deadlock at 78 with 1:07 to go.
In the ensuing play, Kapatagan broke the Archangels’ full-court press easily. He found Gayford Rodriguez alone on the other end for the lead. Then he followed it with a split at the line, 81-78, with just 10.7 ticks remaining.
However, Eugene Torres’ game-tying triple was smothered by Richard Kwong as Garexx Puerto’s freebie sealed the deal.
Down by 12 in the latter parts of the third frame, Kapatagan unleashed a 13-4 blast, highlighted by Mark Daanoy’s buzzer-beater to slash their deficit to just three, 64-67.
“Credit sa players ko na hindi sila nag-give up,” said Buffalos head coach Jaime Rivera. “Pinagsabihan ko lang sila na hindi pa tapos ang laro. Pukpok lang sa depensa. Pagka basket, depensa ulit.”
Bonganciso and Rodriguez both delivered double-doubles in points and rebounds for Kapatagan, 14-14 and 14-10, respectively.
Daanoy and Lao chipped in 13 points apiece, while Saga and Puerto combined for 21.
The Buffalos improved to 1-2. On the other hand, Iligan slid to 1-3.
Hoyohoy led the Archangels anew with 17 points and four rebounds. Arche Salo filled the stat sheet with 14 points, eight assists, four rebounds, and five steals.
Iligan will face Roxas tomorrow at 4:00 PM. Meanwhile, Kapatagan battles Basilan on Saturday, also at 4:00 PM.
The Scores:
Kapatagan 82 – Bonganciso 14, Rodriguez 14, Lao 13, Daanoy 13, Saga 11, Puerto 10, Kwong 5, Sollano 2, Bersabal 0, Torres 0, Sala 0, Incio 0, Manatad 0, Igot 0, Regero 0.
Iligan 78 – Hoyohoy 17, Salo 14, Tamayo 10, Torres 8, Dela Rea 7, Bautista 7, Daguisonan 5, Benedictos 4, Tagolimot 3, Guhiting 2, Tolentino 1, Rivera 0, Bernardino 0, Andrade 0, Benitez 0.
Quarterscores: 16-21, 38-47, 64-67, 82-78.
