PAGADIAN weathered a late rally of MisOr for an 81-75 victory on Tuesday in the 2021 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup, Tuesday at the City Gymnasium in Pagadian, Zamboanga del Sur.
Christian Manalo poured in 16 points and got five steals, while Keanu Caballero tallied 14 points, seven assists, four rebounds, and three assists, as the Explorers tightened their hold at the third seed behind a 4-1 win-loss slate.
Jeric Serrano had a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Mark Benitez added 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Explorers – through Serrano, Manalo, and Caballero — joined forces together to unleash a 7-2 run to turn a 74-72 lead to a 79-72 advantage with just 1:38 left. Despite Mac Baracael’s three-pointer that cut the deficit to 75-79 in the 1:10 mark, the Brew Authoritea suffered turnovers that cost them the game.
Ronjay Buenafe led MisOr with 16 points, while Baracael made 14 points and 10 rebounds. Joseph Sedurifa flirted with a triple-double, tallying 10 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists.
Brew Authoritea missed the services of big men Jayson Ballesteros and Mark Sarangay due to day-to-day injuries.
MisOr, which just finished its third game in as many days, dropped to 2-3 – still at sixth place.
Pagadian looks to build another winning streak tomorrow, 2 pm, against ALZA Alayon. Brew Authoritea gets a two-day rest before returning to action on Friday, 6 pm, against Basilan.
Meanwhile, John Wilson registered the first-ever triple-double in the tournament as Clarin demolished Iligan, 98-65, to stay unbeaten in four games.
Wilson posted 19 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.
Joseph Eriobu was a consistent man for Sto. Niño, scoring 16 points and six rebounds, while Carlo Lastimosa added 15.
Pamboy Raymundo also joined the party with 13 points and eight assists, while Jayvee Marcelino showed another solid performance off the bench with 12 points and four rebounds.
Joel Lee Yu and Wilson Baltazar had 15 and 13 points, respectively.
Iligan slipped to 0-5.