The Muntinlupa Cagers protected their homecourt, scoring a massive upset against the Quezon City Capitals, 106-100, in 2019-20 MPBL Lakan Cup action, Tuesday evening.
The Cagers turned to Edsel Mag-Isa and Ryusei Koga, who both tallied double-double performances that propelled their team to a 3-5 record while dropping QC to 4-3.
Big man Mag-isa tallied 24 points and 11 rebounds while Koga glued things together with 22 points and 14 assists. Also finishing in double-figures was Jamil Ortuoste, who had 24 points, four rebounds, and five assists.
All-around guard Aaron Black scattered 21 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists but it was not enough to lift QC back to the win column.
Earlier in the day, the Makati Super Crunch bounced back from their first loss of the season, repulsing the Cebu City Sharks, 73-67.
The Super Crunch found themselves on the brink of collapse but timely baskets from Jeckster Apinan and Joseph Sedurifa bailed out Makati, which improved its win-loss record to 5-1 and moved to third spot of the tough Northern Division.
“We still have a lot of things to improve on and one of them is our killer’s instinct,” said Makati coach Cholo Villanueva.
The Super Crunch saw their 11-point lead inside the final four-minute mark wiped out quickly by the Patrick Cabahug-less Sharks, who unloaded nine unanswered points and trimmed the deficit to two, 63-61 off a Wil McAloney’s layup with 1:55 left in the game.
But Apinan completed a three-point play and Sedurifa pumped seven more points to keep the Super Crunch at bay.
Apinan led the way for Makati with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting with seven boards while Sedurifa chipped in 11 markers.
Cebu, who dropped to 3-5, was led by McAloney and Rhaffy Octobre, who had 16 markers each.
Paranaque edged Imus, 81-77, in the other game as Jemal Vizcarra and Keith Pido joined forces in giving the Patriots their third win in eight games.
Vizcarra had 23 points while Pido tallied 16 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Imus, who shot just 37-percent from the field, saw the duo of Jayjay Helterbrand and Gerald Anderson struggled. The two combined for just 13 points on 6-of-15 shooting.
Imus dropped to 2-4.
The Scores:
First Game:
Makati 73 – Apinan 21, Sedurifa 11, Baloria 9, Atkins 8, Ablaza 7, Lingganay 4, Cruz 4, Villanueva 4, Importante 3, Torralba 2, Montalbo 0.
Cebu 67 – McAloney 16, Octobre 16, Lao 7, Cenita 6, Lee Yu 5, Coronel 5, Saycon 3, Cortes 2, Rodriguez 2, Dinolan 2, Ubalde 2, Nunez 1, Villaver 0, Pamulaklakin 0.
Quarterscores: 19-13, 37-27, 55-41, 73-67.
Second Game:
Paranaque 81 – Vizcarra 23, Pido 16, Abugan 9, Saguiguit 5, Begaso 5, Mangalino 4, Antonares 4, Almajeda 4, Solis 4, Banzali 3, Castellano 2, Rabe 2, Lucente 0.
Imus 77 – Caceres 12, Reyes 11, Martinez 11, Cunanan 9, Helterbrand 9, Doligon 7, Vito 5, Anderson 4, Alonzo 4, Nacpil 3, Canizares 2, Deles 0, Catimbuhan 0, Ong 0.
Quarterscores: 16-24, 46-39, 60-58, 81-77.
Third Game:
Quezon City 100 – Black 21, Derigue 17, Santos 12, Mabayo 11, Caranguian 10, Carongoy 9, Tayongtong 8, Castro 7, Gonzaga 5, Sison 0, Barua 0.
Muntinlupa 106 – Mag-isa 24, Ortuoste 24, Koga 22, Enguio 16, Ylagan 8, Villanueva 7, Salaveria 3, Maconocido 2, Magtoto 0, Guillen 0.
Quarterscores: 26-22, 47-47, 83-73, 106-100.
