CAGAYAN SECURES SHARE OF D-LEAGUE LEAD
Cagayan Valley remained unscathed in the 2015 PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup with a dominating performance over MP Hotel, 120-77, at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City Thursday.
Don Trollano sparked the Rising Suns with a game-high 24 points as he led six other players who finished in double digits.
At 5-0, Cagayan Valley tied idle Hapee on top of the 12-team field. The 43-point spread also goes on the record books as the biggest winning margin in D-League history.
Abel Galliguez added 16 points, but it was Randy Dilay who got things going in the demolition job as he nailed 3-of-4 from rainbow country in the second period to open the floodgates for Cagayan. He finished with 12 points, all in the first half.
“That’s my job on this team (to find the open shots). My teammates did a good job of finding me. It’s a total team effort,” said the 23-year old Dilay, who came out of Dominican University in Chicago. “Coach keeps pushing us. And for as long as we put in the hard work, I think the wins will keep on coming.”
Jarold Flores ended up with 12, and Moala Tautuaa got a double-double with his 11 markers and 11 rebounds in the easy victory. Eric Salamat and Jason Melano also combined for 20 for Cagayan.
Cagayan took a 32-21 lead after the first quarter and never looked back, as the Rising Suns ran away with the game in the second quarter and continued to pad the lead until it reached its highest at 43, 111-68, after an Edsel Mag-isa basket midway in the fourth.
Moncrief Rogado led the Warriors with 22 points. Wowie Escosio added 15 for MP Hotel (1-5).
In the second game, Jumbo Plastic also got their fifth win of the tourney with an 82-59 drubbing of AMA University.
Dexter Maiquez led the fight for the Giants with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, as Jaymo Eguilos scattered 16 markers.
Joseph Terso also scored 13 points, all in the second half, to improve Jumbo Plastic’s standing to 5-2.
“Sa mga ganitong laro nakikita yung character ng mga players,” said Jumbo Plastic coach Stevenson Tiu, after his wards bounced back from an upset loss to Racal Motors last Monday.
The Giants stepped on the gas early and built a 40-18 halftime bulge, which proved to be enough cushion as they held on to the win despite a Titans rally that cut the deficit to just 10, 51-61, in the fourth.
AMA saw their two-game winning streak snap and fell to 3-4. Joseph Eriobu had 18 points in the losing effort with James Martinez adding 15.
In the third game, Roi Sumang starred for Tanduay Light as the Rhum Masters snapped their four-game losing skid with a 77-73 overtime win over Wangs Basketball.
Sumang scored on a crucial and-one play with 30.6 seconds left, and then stole the ball from Paolo Pontejos in the end game to save Tanduay in extra time. The spitfire guard from UE finished with 20 points, 14 coming in the fourth and overtime periods.
“We’ll take this win. We blew a comfortable lead in the fourth, pero ganito yung kailangan para mairaos eh. Marami pang pwedeng mangyari,” said Tanduay coach Lawrence Chongson, whose wards improved to 2-4.
Chongson believes that they can still turn their campaign around with five games left, saying, “Bakit hindi? Kung masweep pa namin yung remaining games, eh di posible. But it’s easier said than done. Kailangan pa patigasin ng konti yung character ng team at himayin ang role ng bawat isa.”
Sumang helped Tanduay get a nine point lead, 65-56, with 2:14 left in regulation, but Jeff Morillo rallied Wangs back in the game with an 8-0 run to nip the lead down to just one, 65-64, in the final minute.
Sumang turned the ball over, which led to Mark Montuano being fouled on the other end. With a chance to win the game, Montuano air-balled his first freebie, but canned his next to tie the game at 65 and add five minutes on the game clock.
It was a nip-and-tuck battle in the extra period, until Sumang once again took over and scored on an and-one play with 30 seconds left to push the Rhum Masters up, 74-71.
Jovet Mendoza scored on a lay-up for Wangs to cut the deficit to one, but a Sumang split from the line gave Tanduay a two-point cushion, 75-73 with 15 seconds left to play.
Sumang then stripped the ball from Pontejos in a fastbreak play before icing the game from the charity stripe. (RL)
The Scores:
First Game:
Cagayan Valley 120 – Trollano 24, Galliguez 16, Dilay 12, Flores 12, Tautuaa 11, Salamat 10, Melano 10, Capacio 7, Celeda 6, Mag-isa 5, Austria 3, Olayon 2, Tayongtong 2, Mabulac 0.
MP Hotel 77 – Rogado 22, Escosio 15, Blanco 8, Bulac 6, Yaya 5, Pacquiao 5, Allen 4, Quiro 4, Jamon 3, Calo 3, Collado 2, McCarthy 0, Palma 0.
Quarters: 32-21, 65-39, 92-57, 120-77.
Second Game:
Jumbo Plastic 82 – Maiquez 17, Eguilos 16, Terso 13, Cruz 9, Javier 6, Magat 5, Rosales 4, Rios 4, King 4, Petilos 3, Villamor 1.
AMA University 59 – Eriobu 18, Martinez 15, Camasura 8, Olivares 7, Taganas 6, Balucanag 2, Sabangan 2, Cubillo 1, Calma 0, Jordan 0, Diswe 0, Angeles 0.
Quarters: 16-4, 40-18, 55-34, 82-59.
Third Game:
Tanduay Light 77 – Sumang 20, Banal 29, Escueta 15, Foronda 6, Mandani 5, Ilagan 4, Belencion 4, De Vera 2, Tagarda 1, Abrigo 0, Ignacio 0, Cenal 0, Rono 0.
Wangs Basketball 73 – Ferrer 15, Acosta 13, Morillo 11, Mendoza 9, Acidre 7, Montuano 7, Pontejos 4, Rosopa 3, Vijandre 3, Arambulo 1, Acuna 0, Montemayor 0., Lina 0.
Quarters: 26-16, 39-30, 54-48, 65-65, 77-73.
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