Pampanga Pradera Theme Park secured the twice-to-beat advantage in the Manila Bankers Life-Pilipinas Super League 18-Under Luzon Leg after defeating Bagong Cabuyao 88-69 on Sunday at La Consolacion College Gymnasium in Manila.
With this victory, Pampanga Pradera improved its record to 7-0 and is now just one win away from securing a spot in the finals of the tournament co-presented by SCD and Dumper party-list and supported by J Project Clothings, MDC, Bluesky Advertising, NET 25, Wcube Solutions Inc., Hotel SOGO, and Converge.
Veejay Pre of Far Eastern University-Diliman led Pampanga’s offense with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Andrei Dungo from UST High contributed 12 points, five rebounds, and two assists, while Dwyne Miranda, also from FEU-Diliman, scored 11 points.
Justine Garcia of Adamson High played a crucial role for Pampanga, providing 12 assists along with eight points.
Bagong Cabuyao, also known as the Titans of Cabuyao, dropped to a 3-4 record, tying them in fourth to seventh place with Calamba City, Bulacan, and LDG San Pedro. John Mark Navea led the Titans with 24 points.
In other Luzon Leg games, San Pedro surprised Datzluv Sta. Cruz with an 80-67 victory, while Quezon displayed its strength against Bulacan.
Quezon took solo second place with a 5-1 record. Mowell Morales from College of Saint Benilde led the team with 26 points and 14 rebounds. Meanwhile, Shad Chang from Letran College was the top scorer for San Pedro with 20 points.
In the only NCR Leg game of the day, EZ Jersey-Doc Boleros joined Letran-Farm Fresh at the top of the standings after a dominant 98-71 win over NBS Kris, who now holds a 2-3 record.
Amiel Acido from Perpetual High School led Doc Boleros with 25 points, followed by Markkian Danag (15 points), Renz Sabido (14 points), and Carlo Bonzalida from Adamson High (14 points, 12 rebounds).
In the Mindanao North semis held at Valencia Gymnasium & Cultural Center in Bukidnon, CDO Higalas Team B and Meljohns Tailoring made use of their twice-to-beat advantages by defeating Uswag Magpet (108-85) and Rhilapz Notbalz (80-72), respectively.
The top two teams will commence their best-of-three finals series on Thursday.
Rex Alcover led CDO with 26 points, three rebounds, and two steals, while Jessie Puvos stood out for Meljohns with 20 points.
