MALOLOS, Bulacan – The Bulacan Kuyas and Iloilo United Royals prevailed over their rivals and boosted their bid for top four finishes in the elimination round of Chooks-to-Go MPBL Lakan Season on Thursday at Malolos Sports & Convention Center.
Coming off the bench, Gwyne Capacio poured in nine of his 17 points in the fourth quarter as the Kuyas thwarted the Quezon City Capitals, 78-70, and climbed to 19-10 in the North division, where they are lodged at sixth place.
Capacio, who grabbed 6 rebounds, got support from Jhan McHale Nermal with 14 points and 5 rebounds and Jovit dela Cruz with 10 and 7, respectively.
The Capitals, already out of playoffs contention, dropped to 10-19 despite the 13-point, 10-rebound output of Clark Derige and the 13-point, 7-rebound, 7-assist contribution of Mark Olayon.
Pitted against cellar-dweller Sarangani Province, the Royals settled for a 96-86 victory that raised their record to 18-11 and their standing to No. 4 in the South division.
Richard Escoto shone for the Royals with 24 points and 4 boards, followed by Donald Gumaro with 18 points, Al Francis Tamsi with 11, and Aaron Jeruta with 8 points and 12 assists.
Sarangani, which drew 22 points from Orin Catacutan, threatened at 55-58 but was unable to sustain its assault and tumbled to 1-27 in the South.
Also-ran Rizal Xentro Mall stunned Bicol-LCC Malls, 79-77, preventing the Volcanoes from advancing to the playoffs outright.
Veteran Mark Benitez starred in the Golden Coolers’ fifth win in 27 games, scoring Rizal’s last seven points, highlighted by back-to-back triples, to negate the efforts of Jerome Garcia, who also tallied the Volcanoes’ last seven points in a see-saw battle that saw 15 lead changes and 11 ties.
Benitez wound up with 17 points and 10 rebounds, followed by homegrown Jayvee Vidal with 14 points plus 5 rebounds, Kelvin Gregorio with 13 and 6, and Buenaventura Raflores with 11 and 8.
The Volcanoes, who drew 19 points from Garcia, tumbled to 15-14, still ahead of Cebu Casino Ethyl Alcohol (13-14) in the race for the eighth and last playoffs slot in the South division.
