Caloocan and Manila bested separate rivals to stay within striking distance of the North Division leaders while Solid San Juan-Big Chill notched a second straight win to move up to solo second in the South Division in Metro League Open basketball tournament action Tuesday at the Parañaque Sports Hall.
The Supremos All-Star of head coach Rensy Bajar won their third straight game with a 102-92 drubbing of host Parañaque while the All-Stars, led by 11-season PBA veteran Joseph Yeo, routed Taguig 107-90 to improve to identical 3-1 win-loss slates, just behind the unbeaten 2-0 records of Valenzuela and Quezon City in the North Division standings of this tournament organized by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and supported by the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
Solid San Juan used a 14-0 start in the game to beat still-winless Marikina 98-87 to improve to 2-2, just half a game behind Pateros’ leading 2-1 in the South Division of this tourney which has “mobile app ng bayan” Barangay 143 as presentor, Spalding as the official ball and Team Rebel Sports as official outfitter.
Games resume Thursday at the spanking new Valenzuela Astrodome with the host Workhorses looking to keep their unbeaten slate against Parañaque in the 7 pm third game and Quezon City looking to do the same versus Marikina at 5:30 p.m., right after the 4 p.m. opening tussle between Las Piñas and Taguig.
Five Caloocan players, led by MJ Enriquez and Kris Torrado, came through with solid performances with the former, who was named as Barangay 143 “Three-Point Shooter” of the Game, topscoring with 18 points built around four triples and the latter, chosen as the World Balance “Best Player of the Game”, finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Gwayne Capacio led the Green Berets with 25 markers.
In the second game, Rizaldy Corpuz led San Juan with 21 points, three rebounds and three assists, while Joshua Saret had 16 points, nine assists and three rebounds.
John Paul Rosopa contributed 13 points, eight rebounds and four rebounds.
Francis Munsayac scored 31 points, five assists and four rebounds and Irvin Mendoza tallied 18 points and six rebounds in Marikina’s losing effort.
Manila leaned on the 1-2 punch of Yeo and Jay Mark Mallari to beat Taguig.
Yeo, easily one of the more popular players in the 10-team tournament which also has Synergy 88, San Miguel Corp., World Balance, Frabelle Foods, Summit Mineral Water, Alco Plus, Gerry’s Grill, Excellent Noodles, glitter.ph, SM Supermalls and Nature’s Spring as major sponsors, came through with a double-double effort of 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead the All Stars to victory.
Mallari ably supported Yeo with 17 points, four assists and two rebounds in the win.
Manila also got big numbers from Almel Orquina (14 points), Jayford Rodriguez (12 points, nine rebounds), Mark Yu (11 points) and Paolo Quiminales (10 points, six rebounds).
Marlon Monte carried the fight for Taguig with 21 points and four assists, while Richard Albo added 18 points, seven rebounds and two assists.
Only the top four teams from each group will advance to the division semifinals after the eliminations where teams play each other once including those in the other division.
The Scores:
First Game
Manila 107 –-Mallari 17, Yeo 16, Orquina 14, Rodriguez 12, Yu 11, Quiminales 10, Gabas 9, Acibar 7, Manalo 7, Luke 2, Martinez 2, Matignas 0
Taguig 90 –– Monte 21, Albo 18, Oliveria 13, Lontoc 8, Gilbero 7, Mayo 6, Ferriols 5, Lumungsod 5, Dela Virgen 4, Cambaya 2, Alcantara 1, Tiburcio 0.
Quarterscores: 23-23, 40-42, 74-61, 107-90.
Second Game
San Juan 98 – Corpuz 21, Saret 16, Rosopa 13, Astrero 12, Magbitang 8, Elarmo 7, Magbanua 6, Danao 5, Dada 5, Paras 2, Bautista 0
Marikina 87 – Munsayac 31, Mendoza 18, Deles 8, Lozano 8, Robrigado 6, Bautista 6, Castillo 5, Catipay 5, Zapanta 0, Gervacio 0, Vicencio 0
Quarterscores: 27-20, 52-43, 70-43, 98-87.
Third Game
Caloocan 102 – Enriquez 18, Sombero 16, De Mesa 15, Coquia 15, Torrado 10, Ligon 8, Perez 8, Principe 5, Pacheco 4, Tamayo 2, Mayuyo 1, Bauzon 0.
Parañaque (92) – Capacio 25, Dalaten 20, Custodio 16, Indoy 14, Villareal 6, Encela 5, Baguio 3, Danac 3, Elorde 0, Partosa 0.
Quarterscores: 26-26, 54-42, 88-73, 102-92.
