JUMBO Plastic-Basilan came out fuming in Game 3 on Friday night to rout KCS-Mandaue, 83-65, to sweep the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup Southern Finals at the Pagadian City Gymnasium in Zamboanga del Sur.
Relentless on both ends of the court, Basilan only allowed Mandaue to keep its head above water in the first quarter, pushing hard in the second period and never looked back the rest of the way to rule the tournament via a sweep that dates back to the eliminations.
“This championship is double sweet because what makes playing—and winning—difficult during these times is the pandemic,” Basilan head coach Jerson Cabiltes said. “We are fortunate to be able to play, and now, we are champions.”
The championship was made even sweeter with Basilan winning all its 13 games in the tournament that survived the renewed onslaught of Covid-19.
“This is an entirely another level [of winning],” Cabiltes added.
Basilan was dominant in Game 1, 94-76, but relaxed and managed to escape, 96-91, in Game 2 on Thursday night, a victory Caliltes described as “ugly.”
Mandaue led after the first quarter, 23-20, but that was all it could muster as Basilan stepped on the gas to overpower its dazez rivals.
Basilan held Mandue scoreless in the last five minutes of the second quarter to build a 13-point lead at halftime, 43-30. The Mindanao champs then opened the third quarter with 15 unanswered points to rip the game apart, 58-30.
Shaq Imperial’s triple in the five-minute mark of the third quarter broke Mandaue’s silence that lasted for close to 10 minutes.
It was still an all-Basilan show in the payoff period with the eventual champions unleashing a 10-0 run for a 52-66 margin.
Mandaue never threatened after that.
Jay Collado led the champions with 15 points and four rebounds, while Michael Juico added 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Michael Mabulac was a beast in the paint with 13 points and 14 rebounds.
Mabulac and Collado were named co-Finals Most Valuable Players. Mabulac posted averages of 12.3 points, 11. 3 rebounds and 1.7 assists and Collado normed 12 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists in the best-of-five finals.
Juico didn’t finish the game after he was ejected with 2:26 remaining after incurring his second technical fouls for trash talking.
Gileant Delator paced the Visayas kings with 14 points and five steals. Monic Soliva got 13 points and Steve Castro chipped in 10.
Rhaffy Octobre, who had 27 points in Game 2, was limited to only two points in 13 minutes of action, dealing with foul trouble throughout the game.
Basilan bagged the P1-million cash prize from Chooks-to-Go on top of the P500,000 from the Mindanao Leg.
Mandaue, on the other hand, went home with P500,000.
The scores:
Basilan 83—Collado 15, Juico 14, Mabulac 13, Baloria 13, Uyloan 6, Gabo 6, Manalang 6, Taganas 2, Saliddin 2, Bitoon 2, Siruma 2, Balucanag 0, Bringas 0, Tan 0.
Mandaue 65—Delator 14, Soliva 13, Castro 10, Bregondo 8, Roncal 7, Gastador 4, Imperial 3, Octobre 2, Nalos 2, Mercader 1, Cachuela 1.
Quarterscores—20-23, 43-30, 66-42, 83-65.
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