Pasig-Sta. Lucia completed its sweep of the Chooks-to-Go Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Invitational’s Pool A, handing Negros a harsh 85-73 exit, Monday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The Realtors (4-0) ended the pool stage at the top. On the other hand, Iloilo (3-1), who was coming off an 80-69 win over Caloocan, took the second seed.
Pasig-Sta. Lucia will then face San Juan-GFG AICC in the knockout quarterfinals on Tuesday at 2:30PM.
“Right now siyempre yung iniisip ko yung game bukas against San Juan kasi napakalakas din ng San Juan so iniisip ko na yung depensang gagawin namin sa kanila,” said Sta. Lucia head coach Bong Dela Cruz. “Sana talaga ma-execute namin yung defense namin bukas.”
The Realtors had a hard time fending off the Muscovados in the first half. But they eventually managed to pull away by opening the third with a 21-6 run for a 15-point lead, 64-49.
The lead then ballooned to as much as 18 points in the fourth period, 75-57, off an Allen Mina layup with 7:33 left.
Jeckster Apinan led the Realtors’ balanced offensive attack with 12 points to go along with six boards.
Fran Yu chipped in 11 points in the victory. Meanwhile, Ryan Costelo and Allen Mina added 10 apiece for the Sta. Lucia-backed squad.
On the other hand, Negros finished with a 0-5 campaign. It was led by Jafet Claridad with 17 points, four rebounds, and three assists.
Ricer Santillan had a double-double of 10 points and 13 boards. Meanwhile, Christopher Menguez and Jonathan Gantalao added nine markers each.
The Scores:
Pasig-Sta Lucia (85) – Apinan 12, Yu 11, Costelo 10, Mina 10, Arana 9, Teng 8, Bautista 8, Lingganay 5, Ablaza 5, Sanggalang 4, Chan 3, Peña 0.
Negros (73) – Claridad 17, Santillan 10, Gantalao 9, Menguez 9, Adorio 8, Yulo 6, Geolingo 6, Dinolan 4, Maestre 2, Adjei 2, Jaca 0, Macion 0.
Quarterscores: 28-25, 41-41, 67-54, 85-73
