By Adrian Stewart Co
MJAS Zenith-Talisay City Aquastars swept the eliminations of the 2021 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup Visayas leg after a 99-62 win over ARQ Builders Lapu-Lapu Heroes on Thursday at the Alcantara Civic Center in Cebu.
The victory allowed the Aquastars to finish the double-round eliminations with 10-0 win-loss slate and also earning them an outright seat in the best-of-three Visayas leg championship round.
“Malaking bagay sa amin na makuha namin ‘yung sweep para makapahinga kami,” said Aquastars head coach Aldrin Morante. “Siguro masasabi ko lang this is all because of the players. They deserve to rest.”
Since the get go, the Aquastars showed its determination of sweeping the elimination with a 24-9 first quarter avalanche anchored on the outside shooting of Patrick Cabahug.
It was all Talisay City since then as they maintained a double-digit edge before widening it further in the fourth period with a 30-11 blast, highlighted by a pair of slam dunks from Jaymar Gimpayan.
Cabahug finished the match with 22 points, including five three-point conversions, while Kevin Villafranca helped out with 12 points, five boards, and two assists for the Aquastars.
Darrell Shane Menina and Allan Santos contributed 11 and 10 markers, respectively, while Paolo Hubalde dished 13 assists to go along with seven rebounds and six points for Talisay City.
Ferdinand Lusdoc tallied 12 points, while Jojo Tangkay and Chris Regero chipped in 10 markers apiece for the Heroes, which dropped to 4-5 win-loss slate.
Meanwhile, Jaybie Mantilla carried the scoring cudgels for Dumaguete Warriors to score a 90-85 victory over Tabogon Voyagers to snap a five-game losing streak and improved to 2-7.
Down by 15 at halftime, Mantilla came alive in the second half to turn things around for the Warriors. The former University of the Philippines guard finished with 29 points, 17 in the second half.
BOX SCORE:
TALISAY CITY 99 – Cabahug 22, Villafranca 12, Menina 11, Santos 10, Eguilos 9, Gimpayan 8, Jamon 8, Hubalde 6, Acuña 6, Mojica 5, Moralde 2, Casajeros 0, Alvarez 0, Dela Cerna 0.
LAPU-LAPU 62 – Lusdoc 12, Tangkay 10, Regero 10, M. Arong 5, Ochea 4, Abad 4, Senining 4, Juntilla 4, Berame 3, Galvez 2, Mondragon 2, Igot 2, Solis 0, F. Arong 0
Quarterscores: 24-9, 41-26, 69-51, 99-62./ASC, WDJ