THE Bulacan DF Republicans defeated the Quezon Barons, 110-96, on Sunday to sweep their weekend assignments in the Chooks-to-Go NBL Chairman’s Cup 2021 at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando, Pampanga.
Joseph Celso converted eight of his 10 field goal attempts and finished with 20 points for the Republicans who improved to a 6-1 win-loss record and in the process gave the Barons their first defeat in five matches.
Earnest Reyes had 12 points and 11 rebounds to complement Celso’s play as Dominick Fajardo had another fine outing with 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
The Republicans went 2-0 this weekend after beating Paranaque Aces, 100-81, last Saturday with Fajardo shooting a game-high 19 points.
La Union (4-0) is now the lone unbeaten team in the Chairman’s Cup after the Quezon defeat. The Barons defeated the Taguig Generals in double overtime, 119-108, for their fourth win of the season.
The Stan Quezon Lady SparTAN, meanwhile, finally won a game in the Pia Cayetano WNBL Season 2021 after beating the Pacific Water Queens, 69-54, also on Sunday.
Kath Araja led the Lady SparTAN with 16 points including five triples to go along with eight assists and four steals as her team bagged their first win after four games.
Quezon is in fourth place, two games behind third-place Taguig, which defeated the Lady SparTAN last Saturday, 58-50.
Jade Valenzuela scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Kristine Duran had 13 points and seven rebounds.
Jollina Go had 22 points and Snow Penaranda had 16 points and 15 rebounds but the Water Queens lost for the fourth time this season.