Zamboanga Family’s Brand Sardines, powered by Jaycee Marcelino’s triple-double, weathered Muntinlupa’s final assault to tally a 77-71 victory and advance to the semifinal round in the OKBet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 4th Season Presented by Xtreme on Monday at the Batangas City Coliseum.
Marcelino wound up with 24 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists and 6 steals as Zamboanga repeated over Muntinlupa and cut short their best-of-three quarterfinal series.
To its credit, Muntinlupa fought back from a 19-point deficit (40-59) and threatened at 73-71 with still 56 seconds to go.
Ralph Tansingco, however, canned his two charities and Jayvee Marcelino, Jaycee’s twin brother, got freed for the last basket and the final count.
Zamboanga will face the winner between Bacolod and General Santos in the South division semifinals.
Apart from posting his first MPBL triple-double, Jaycee also had two blocks in 34 minutes and 52 seconds of play.
Jhaps Bautista and Tansingco came through with 11 points each, while Jayvee also put up an all-around show with 10 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.
