Cebu, Pasig post contrasting victories

Cebu and Pasig won in contrasting fashion in the SportsPlus Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League on Monday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

The Cebu Greats battered the Negros Hacienderos, 124-77, in the opener, while the Pasigueños leaned on a soaring drive by Warlo Batac with 8.7 seconds left to nip the Mindoro Tamaraws, 69-68, in the nightcap of another triple bill in the round-robin elimination phase of the two-division, 27-team tournament.

Mindoro blew its final play as Bambam Gamalinda turned the ball over to Jacob Galicia with just three seconds to go, allowing Pasig to jump to sixth place in the North division.

Galicia finished with 17 points, seven in the fourth quarter, seven rebounds and two steals to clinch the SportsPlus Best Player honors over Batac, who posted 11 points, six in the last 2:44, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals; and homegrown Jerome Garcia with 13 points and two assists.

“We poured it all out as we need to recover from three straight losses,” Galicia said.

The outcome could have been different for the Tamaraws, who dropped to 7-8, had John Apacible made at least one of four charities in the last five minutes.

Gamalinda chalked up 19 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals, followed by Apacible with 12 points and nine rebounds, and JJ Caspe, with 11 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Cebu started with a 10-0 spurt and was never headed to notch its sixth straight win and climb to 13-3 in the race for playoff spots.

Homegrown acquisition Elmer Echavez struck the hardest for Cebu with 19 points and 17 rebounds, followed by five other Greats in double figures.

The 6-foot-2 Echavez was named the best player over Simon Camacho, who posted 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Ron Dennison, with 12 points, four assists and two rebounds.

Filipino-American CJ Payawal contributed 11 points and three rebounds, Alvin Baetiong 10 points and five rebounds, and Mark Meneses, 10 points, four rebounds and two assists in less than 12 minutes of play for Cebu, which trails Biñan (14-2) and Batangas (12-2) and is ahead of Biñan (12-3) in the South division.