Bacolod Bingo Plus stunned Zamboanga Family’s Brand Sardines, 61-58, on Saturday to force a deciding game 3 in their South division semifinal series in the OKbet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 4th Season Presented by Xtreme at the Batangas City Coliseum.
Alwyn Alday scored on a floater with 26 seconds left while Jayboy Solis split his two charities for the marginal points that tied the series at 1-1.
Hot from the start, Alday finished with a game-high 21 points, including four triples, to earn best player honors.
Alday was supported by Mark Yee with 11 points and 13 rebounds and Raymund Ilagan with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
The efforts of Yee and Ilagan underneath enabled Bacolod to rule the boards, 51-40.
Zamboanga, which took Game One, 71-65, on Nov. 8 will again seek the finals slot on Tuesday, November 22, at home.
Zamboanga got 14 points from Jhaymo Eguilos and 11 from Jhaps Bautista, which injected life into Zamboanga’s cause with back-to-back triples, followed by a jumper by All-Star MVP Jaycee Marcelino that knotted the count at 58.
Marcelino was held to 5 points, making only 2 of 12 attempts and missing all 6 triple tries. His twin brother, Jayvee, contributed 9 points.
Bacolod Coach Alex Angeles fielded only 9 players with 7 of them scoring in the tight game that saw neither team lead by twin digits. Bacolod posted its biggest lead at 11-4 while Zamboanga could only lead at 2-0 and trail for the most part of the game.
