Coming off an embarrassing home loss at the hands of Valenzuela nine days ago, the Quezon City Capitals bounced back, routing the Mindoro Tamaraws, 72-62, at the Blue Eagle Gym.
Aaron Black, who was averaging 9.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game, was out for the contest due to him joining Mighty Sports-Philippines in the 2019 William Jones Cup.
That is why former NCRAA MVP Dahrrel Caranguian stepped up, finishing with 13 points and six rebounds — higher than his norms of 4.3 points and 1.0 rebounds prior to this game.
Quezon City rose to 3-2 in the 2019 MPBL Lakan Cup’s North Division while dropping dropping Mindoro to 1-3 in the South.
The Capitals, who led by as much as 13 points in the contest, also leaned on Clark Derige, who had 16 points, and former Blue Eagle Tonino Gonzaga, who finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
The squad owned and coached by Justin Tan Mindoro had Rodel Vaygan lead the squad in scoring with 12 points on 16 attempts. Sandy Cenal added 11 points and 14 rebounds.
The Valenzuela Classic though continue to treat the Blue Eagle Gym as their home floor, picking up their second win in the venue — fourth straight overall, after escaping the Cebu Sharks, 69-66.
Unheralded Jaymar Gimpayan, who had 11 points and 11 rebounds in the contest, helped Valenzuela gain a 10-point edge late that proved to be pivotal as Cebu mounted a late surge.
For head coach Gerry Esplana, Valenzuela’s early success can be attributed to the players’ willingness to embrace their roles.
“Alam nila kung ano ang role nila,” said Esplana. “At any given day, laging mayroong magi-step up sa team.”
Chris De Chavez led the way for the Classic with 12 points, all on triples.
Valenzuela rose to a tie for third in the North Division with a 4-1 slate together with Manila.
Rhaffy Octobre had 18 points and 13 rebounds for the 2-3 Sharks.
In the opening game, the Harold Arboleda-less Zamboanga-Family Brand Sardines needed the late heroics of Allan Santos to seal off the Bulacan Kuyas, 60-59.
Santos scored the game-winning short jumper with three seconds left to carry Zamboanga to a 2-3 slate. He finished the game with 12 points and eight rebounds.
Raffy Reyes led Zamboanga with 16 points, seven rebounds, and four assists to negate his six-turnover game. He also helped limit Dan Sara to just 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting.
Bulacan fell to an even 3-3.
The Scores:
First Game:
Zamboanga 60 – Reyes 16, Santos 12, Juntila 7, Nalos 6, Rono 6, De Vera 5, Cudal 3, Argamino 3, Costelo 2, Salim 0, Jumao-As 0.
Bulacan 59 – Sara 10, Siruma 9, Santos 9, Alabanza 8, Dela Cruz 6, Arim 5, Taganas 4, Bonsubre 4, Mendoza 2, Diputado 2, Escosio 0, Nermal 0, Burton 0, Antipuesto 0.
Quarterscores: 12-13, 27-27, 43-40, 60-59.
Second Game:
Valenzuela 69 – De Chavez 12, Gimpayan 11, Thiele 8, Hubalde 7, Catacutan 7, Diego 6, Mabigat 6, Kalaw 4, Varilla 4, Asuncion 4, Cabrera 0, Alcober 0, Esplana 0, Pagcalinawan 0.
Cebu 66 – Octobre 18, McAloney 12, Viloria 10, Lao 10, Nunez 7, Cabahug 4, Cenita 4, Cortes 1, Rodriguez 0, Ubalde 0, Saycon 0, Pamulaklakin 0, Lee Yu 0.
Quarterscores: 8-19, 37-31, 54-48, 69-66.
Third Game:
Quezon City 72 – Derige 16, Caranguian 13, Gonzaga 11, Tayongtong 9, Mabayo 7, Carongoy 5, Santos 4, Sison 3, Barua 2, Gadon 2, Castro 0, Medina 0.
Mindoro 62 – Vaygan 12, Cenal 11, Baracael 10, Camacho 10, Bangeles 7, Brutas 6, Bolos 2, Cinco 2, Saret 2, Osicos 0, Abanes 0, Ilarde 0, Astrero 0, Mandreza 0, Matias 0.
Quarterscores: 17-14, 31-25, 48-45, 72-62.
