PAGADIAN, Zamboanga del Sur – Zamboanga City and Petra Cement-Roxas swept their respective rivals in the first phase of the semis and advanced to the second stage of the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup at the Pagadian City Gym here.
Mac Cardona and Fran Yu came through with clutch baskets as fifth-ranked Zambonga City JPS brought down the second-seeded Clarin Sto. Nino, 95-93, in overtime, while the fourth seed Roxas Vanguards eliminated third-ranked Pagadian, 67-61.
Yu tallied 15 points in the fourth and extra period to finish with 21 points, to go with eight assists, four rebounds, and three steals while Cardona had 11 points in the last two frames to end with 16 points, three rebounds, and three steals.
With just 1:27 left, Cardona, known as “Captain Hook.” converted a layup to extend JPS’ one-point lead to three.
Clarin’s Joseph Eriobu, in the ensuing play, was fouled but missed his first attempt before draining his second freebie, 95-93, with 1:17 to go.
With a chance to tie the game with 16.1 ticks remaining, Eriobu was sent to the line. He, however, missed both.
With the win, Zamboanga will face Roxas on Wednesday.
The fourth seed Vanguards had a hot start and never let go of the lead to boot out the home team.
Roxas raced to a 24-10 first quarter and never looked back to set a date with Zamboanga City in the semis round 2 on Wednesday, 6 pm.
Two charity stripe shots by Keanu Caballero with 1:06 left in the game put Pagadian’s deficit to just four, 58-62.
But the Vanguards was steady from the free throw line down the stretch en route to the series sweep.
Jhong Bondoc, James Castro, and Leo Najorda went 5-of-6 from the line to seal the victory.
The scores:
ZAMBOANGA CITY 95 – Yu 21, Cardona 16, Gaco 13, Jeruta 12, Belencion 11, Espinas 10, Lingganay 6, Neypes 3, Ferrer 3, Matias 0.
CLARIN 93 – Lastimosa 25, Wilson 23, Eriobu 20, Raymundo 10, Mangahas 7, Baetiong 4, Palattao 2, Hayes 2, Pancho 0, Pagante 0, Fuentes 0, Berdan 0, De Mesa 0.
Quarters: 20-22, 35-42, 53-57, 84-84, 95-93.
Second Game
ROXAS 67 – Castro 18, Camacho 13, Bondoc 10, Najorda 9, Jaime 7, Casino 5, Reyes 2, Templo 2, Pasia 1, Sta. Ana 0, Velasco 0.
PAGADIAN 61 – Benitez 12, Manalo 12, Caballero 7, Acaylar 7, Dechos 6, Serrano 4, Pamaran 4, Saludsod 3, Guinitaran 2, Demigaya 2, Quimado 2, Bautista 0, Diva 0.
Quarters: 24-10, 33-23, 51-43, 67-61.
