Iloilo United Royals pulled off a 96-86 win over the Sarangani Marlins last Thursday in the ongoing 2019-2020 Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League-Lakan Cup at the Malolos Sports and Convention Center in Bulacan. Richard Escoto top-scored for Iloilo with 24 points, while Donald Gumaru added 18 markers on six three-point conversions, and Al Francis Tamsi contributed 11 points.
Despite the win, Iloilo head coach Eric Gonzales was disappointed.
“Hindi ako masaya e (I’m not happy),” he explained. “Masyado kaming complacent, hindi dahil nasa bottom sila (Sarangani), ang tinitignan ko is yung team saka individual effort e (We are too complacent, not because Sarangani is at the bottom, what I am looking at is the team and individual effort).”
The Royals led by as much as 12 points when the Marlins cut their deficit to 89-83 with under two minutes left. Escoto then drew a foul from Excell Nocos and drained two free throws to extend the Iloilo’s lead to eight points.
With 21.3 seconds left, Michael Javelosa put the game away by sinking a three-pointer./ASC, WDJ