Quezon survived the fightback from the gritty Mindoro, 114-94, Sunday in the 2021 Chooks-to-Go NBL Chairman’s Cup at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando, Pampanga.
After going down by as much as 19, the Tamaraws Nex Gen inched within two after a basket from JJ Caspe at the 7:32 mark of the fourth period, 83-85.
But a 12-4 counter-rally, capped by a layup from Topeng Lagrama, restored order for the Barons and put their advantage back in twin digits, 97-87, with 4:20 left.
Quezon shut the door for Mindoro with a 17-7 closing bomb to improve its win-loss slate to 5-1, good for fourth.
The Barons went up by a whopping 19 points via a Lindyl Saturay floater back in the second quarter with 2:07 to go.
Lagrama flirted with a rare quadruple-double, making 19 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists, and seven steals.
Domenick Vera top-scored for Quezon with 33 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the field with nine made freebies.
Jervin Deduyo and Arvine Calucin led the second-stringers with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
On the other hand, the starters did the heavy lifting for Mindoro with Luigi Natada and Kerr Bangeles dropping 27 points apiece with the former also grabbing 11 rebounds.
Caspe also notched 17 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists but was ice cold the entire match, going 6-of-29.
This is the Tamaraws’ fourth defeat in five games played, just above dead last Stan District 4.
The Scores:
Quezon 114 – Vera 33, Lagrama 19, Deduyo 14, Calucin 13, Sarona 7, Resurrecion 6, Nañez 6, Saturay 4, Ramos 4, Garcia 3, Tan 2, Plata 2, Sena 1, Dacian 0, Ramirez 0.
Mindoro 94 – Natada 27, Bangeles 27, Caspe 17, Axalan 9, Garcia 5, Alulod 3, Sarmiento 2, Huerto 2, Bernal 2, Cascalla 0, Famadico 0.
Quarterscores: 28-20, 49-35, 77-71, 114-94.
