The Jumbo Plastic-Basilan Peace Riders won their second game in a row with a tough 83-77 win over the Iligan City Archangels in the 2021 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup, Saturday at the Pagadian City Gymnasium.
The Peace Riders took full control of the match late in the second where they uncorked a 13-7 run to take a 45-33 lead at halftime. The Archangels kept within striking distance and were only down by five, 66-71, with four minutes left in the game but Jumbo Plastic-Basilan kept their composure and utilized an 8-2 run to restore their lead to double figures, 79-68, with just 2:20 left.
“Actually yung Iligan they just kept on fighting kaya nung nababa nila yung lamang sa lima, I just told my boys to settle down,” said Peace Riders head coach Jerson Cabiltes.
Chris Bitoon played his best game so far, racking up 23 points, while fellow newcomer Michael Juico chimed in 13 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. Also coming through for the Peace Riders were Jong Baloria and Shaq Taganas with 11 and 10 points, respectively, with the latter also grabbing 10 rebounds.
Basilan now improved their win-loss slate to 2-0.
Joel Lee Yu was the usual suspect for the Archangels with 16 points and five assists. Lester Tamayo added a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.
With the loss, Iligan fell to the bottom of the standings at 0-3.
The Scores:
Basilan 83 – Bitoon 23, Juico 13, Baloria 11, Taganas 10, Collado 8, Mabulac 7, Lunor 5, Gabo 3, Siruma 2, Manalang 1, Bringas 0, Ng 0.
Iligan City 77 – Lee Yu 16, Tamayo 14, Ballon 12, Baltazar 6, Marata E. 6, Tagolimot 5, Marata M. 4, Andor 4, Ordeniza 3, Dionson 3, Rabe 2, Canon 2, Montecalvo 0, Benitez 0.
Quarterscores: 22-13, 45-33, 65-54, 83-77. (JNP)