By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Bacolod City of Smiles finally entered the win-column of the 2023 Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) after a 93-82 victory over Bicol Volcanoes at the Nueva Ecija Coliseum on Saturday, March 25.
Homegrown player Domark Matillano led the way with 17 points, including three three-point connections, to go with three rebounds, three assists and two steals as Bacolod hiked its record to 1-2.
John Cantimbuhan, Justin Alano and Ryusei Koga chipped in 13 markers apiece, while James Mangahas and Mac Montilla also contributed 12 and 10 markers, respectively, for Bacolod.
Bacolod went to a 6-0 start via back-to-back triples by Mangahas and Matillano, but Bicol quickly kept the score close before surging ahead at 14-10. Bacolod leaned on late hits by Cantimbuhan and Alfred Sedillo to cut the deficit to 17-19.
The Volcanoes were still ahead early in the second quarter at 25-21, but Bacolod got baskets from Cantimbuhan, Jaymam Pabilona and Coy Alves for a 29-25 edge before pulling away to 44-32 at the half.
Bacolod continued its hot shooting in the third quarter behind Matillano and Mangahas as the lead reached its largest at 75-50 via a triple by Koga and inside connections by Allan Mangahas.
The Bacolodnons maintained the 20-point margin in the fourth quarter with inside baskets by Alano and triples by Montilla before Bicol made a late run to cut the deficit to as low as 11 points.
“Pinag-usapan namin ‘yung mga naging pagkakamali namin in our last two games at trinabaho namin para ma-improve,” Cantimbuhan said.
“Hopefully, this will signal the start of a winning streak for us,” he said.
James Martinez flirted with triple-double with 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, Wowie Escosio added 17 markers, while Ilonggo Peejay Barua and Raymark Matias had 10 points each as the Volcanoes remained winless in three games.
Bacolod City of Smiles will have a weeklong break before resuming action against 1Bataan Risers at the Quezon Convention Center on Saturday, April 1 at 6:00 p.m.
BACOLOD 93 — Matillano 17, Cantimbuhan 13, Alano 13, Koga 13, J. Mangahas 12, Montilla 10, A. Mangahas 7, Sedillo 2, Stevens 2, Alves 2, Pabilona 2, Arboleda 0, Sarangay 0.
BICOL 82 — Martinez 20, Escosio 17, Barua 10, Matias 10, Diokno 8, Ilad 7, Wong 5, Vitug 3, Rifarial 2, Lastra 0, Malamug 0, Domagtoy 0.
Quarterscores: 17-19, 44-32, 79-55, 93-82./ASC, WDJ