By Adrian Stewart Co
Iloilo United Royals turned back Caloocan Excellence, 80-69, to clinch a seat into the 2021 Chooks-to-Go MPBL Invitational quarterfinals on Sunday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
John Mahari stepped up on offense for the United Royals with 16 points, while Donald Gumaru chipped in 10 markers as Jayson David hauled down 10 rebounds on top of five points.
The United Royals finished the Pool D assignment at second place with 4-1 win-loss slate and will face either San Juan or Nueva Ecija in the knockout quarterfinals on Tuesday.
United Royals head coach Eric Gonzales said, despite already assured of a quarterfinals seat, he still urged his wards to still go hard against the also-ran Excellence to maintain their momentum heading into the playoffs.
“Ang mahirap kasi is yung nagre-relax kasi nakuha na nga namin yung playoff spot,” Gonzales said. “Kailangan yung mentality namin is doing the right thing and executing the gameplan as much as possible. Yung 50-50 balls at yung hustle points dapat amin.”
Right from the tip-off, the United Royals were relentless, racing to a 12-4 lead that led to a 23-11 start. The Excellence was not able to recover since then en route to an easy win by the Ilonggos.
Josef Penaredondo led the way with 19 points, RJ Escobal added 13 markers, while Mon Mabayo and Paolo Javillonar put up double-doubles for Caloocan with the former tallying 11 points and 14 rebounds while the latter had 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Meanwhile, also-ran Negros Muscovados suffered yet another heartbreaking defeat following an 87-86 defeat to Bacoor Strikers behind the game-winning shot of Jess Quilatan.
It was almost a lost possession for the Strikers as Richard Albo lost control of the ball but teammate Quilatan was there to pick up the loose ball and drain the game-winning basket with 2.1 ticks left in the match.
It was the third consecutive one-point defeat for the MPBL newcomer Muscovados following a 68-67 defeat to All-Star Bacolod Ballers and an 80-79 loss to the Excellence./ASC, WDJ