By Adrian Stewart Co
MJAS Zenith-Talisay City Aquastars zoomed to its ninth straight win in the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup after a 77-66 trampling of Dumaguete Warriors on Tuesday night at the Alcantara Civic Center in Cebu.
Jaymar Gimpayan tallied a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds to go along with three assists, a block, and a steal, while Jhaymo Eguilos added 11 points, seven boards, two assists, and two steals for the Aquastars.
Holding to a slim 16-13 lead after the opening quarter, the Aquastars dropped a vicious 18-3 blast behind Egie Boy Mojica, Darrell Menina, and Allan Santos to widen the lead to 34-16.
It was all Talisay City since then as they raised the lead to a high of 29 before Dumaguete outscored Talisay, 28-13, in the final frame to make the final score a more respectable.
With a semifinals berth already locked in, Talisay City is now looking to complete a clean sweep of the double round-robin elimination round against ARQ Builders Lapu-Lapu City this afternoon.
“I’d like to commend everyone for this win…,” said Aquastars head coach Aldrin Morante.
“Hindi namin iniisip ‘yung sweep. One game at a time pa rin ‘yung approach namin.”
Ronald Roy was the lone bright spot for Dumaguete with 17 points, spiked by five triples, as the rest of the team shot poorly from the field, making just 30-percent of their attempts.
Meanwhile, KCS Computer Specialist-Mandaue City put the clamps on Tubigon Bohol to score a VisMin Super Cup record rout of 80-50 and clinched a spot in the semifinals round.
Still smarting from its 73-81 loss to the Aquastars last Saturday, KCS vented their ire on Bohol and limited the Mariners to a combined 17 points in the middle periods to eventually come away with their sixth victory in eight games.
Shaq Imperial came off the bench and led the KCS Computer Specialist-Mandaue City with 15 points, seven rebounds, an assist, and two steals while fellow guard Gileant Delator had 13 points and five dimes.
BOX SCORE:
TALISAY CITY 77 – Gimpayan 14, Eguilos 11, Cabahug 9, dela Cerna 8, Jamon 7, Santos 6, Villafranca 6, Mojica 5, Mabigat 3, Acuña 3, Casajeros 2, Menina 2, Hubalde 1, Ugsang 0, Cuyos 0.
DUMAGUETE 66 – Roy 17, Regalado 9, Doligon 9, Mantilla 8, Tomilloso 8, Velasquez 7, Ramirez 3, Aguilar 3, Gabas 2, Gonzalgo 0, Porlares 0.
Quarterscores: 16-13, 36-23, 64-38, 77-66./ASC, WDJ