ALCANTARA — The MJAS Zenith-Talisay City Aquastars got the jump on the KCS Computer Specialist-Mandaue City and never looked back, authoring a 77-57 beatdown in the 2021 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup on Tuesday night at the Civic Center here in Cebu.
Athletic forward Jaymar Gimpayan came off the bench and had a spectacular ballgame as he tallied 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting. He also grabbed 10 rebounds and had an assist and a block to help MJAS Zenith capture its second win in as many games.
Val Acuña added 12 points including a pair of three-pointers near the end of the game that put an exclamation point on the emphatic win between two contenders in the Visayas leg.
MJAS Zenith was locked in from the get-go and held KCS scoreless for the first six minutes of the game while scoring 16 of their own to set the tempo of the game. KCS was able to trim the deficit to eight, 17-25, but the Aquastars got going once again, going on a 13-3 run capped off by a steal and a bucket by homegrown player Lugie Cuyos for a 38-20 lead.
KCS got into a groove and cut MJAS Zenith’s lead to eight, 36-44, but Gimpayan came in and gave the Aquastars a boost, scoring six points late in the third to give his team a 15-point lead, 58-43, heading to the final canto.
Gimpayan then poured it on in the fourth, tallying eight in the period including a fallaway jumper that beat the shot clock buzzer and gave MJAS Zenith an even 20-point bulge, 74-54, with 1:10 to go in the lopsided match.
Afterward, MJAS Zenith head coach Aldrin Morante said it was important for his team to come out focused because they didn’t want to take KCS lightly.
“Kelangan namin mag focus kasi malakas ang KCS,” said Morante. “Hindi kami magkumpyansa sa kanila and good start ang kelangan.”
He was also appreciative of Gimpayan’s breakout game as the athletic forward served as an outlet when Talisay’s big men got doubled in the post.
“Super ganda ng ginawa nya,” added Morante. “Dino doble ang big man namin and siya yung palaging nasa saktong lugar.”
Al Francis Tamsi led KCS with 18 points as the team fell to 1-1. KCS shot themselves in the foot from beyond the three-point arc where they made just five of their 36 attempts.
There will be no rest for both squads as both teams will play tomorrow. Mandaue looks to bounce back when it takes on Bohol (0-2) at 5:00 PM while Talisay hopes to make it three in a row as it faces Dumaguete (0-2) at 8:00 PM.
The Scores:
MJAS Zenith-Talisay (77) — Gimpayan 25, Acuna 12, Hubalde 8, Menina 8, Mojica 8, Jamon 4, Villafranca 4, Santos 3, Cuyos 2, Cabahug 2, Eguilos 1.
KCS-Mandaue (57) — Tamsi 18, Mendoza 11, Delator 9, Soliva 6, Octobre 4, Cachuela 4, Mercader 3, Roncal 2, Solera 0, Nalos 0, Exciminiano 0, Bonganciso 0, Imperial 0.
Quarterscores: 23-11, 42-28, 58-43, 77-57.
