The win actually evens things up for both teams as the Cebuanos stopped the national squad in their first meeting last year.
Today’s game set at 5 p.m. will be some sort of a decider.
The RP Smart Gilas came in full force with stars Chris Tiu, Japeth Aguilar and Marcio Lassiter joining the squad for this Cebu stint.
The Niños, however, took command in the early going and were up by as much as 12 points before Gilas broke the ice.
The presence of import Jason Dixon added some muscle to coach Yayoy Alcoseba’s team at the start, but later in the game, this also appeared to have been to their disadvantage.
After a strong start, Dixon failed to deliver the points later in the game and veteran point guard Woodrow Enriquez also lost his cool when he was slapped a foul.
Game officials awarded Gilas two technical freethrows plus ball possession after Enriquez flared up, which helped turn the game around.
Dylan Ababou, Tiu, Mac Baracael and JV Casio stepped up and powered Gilas’ 13-0 run to help their team go up by 12, 61-49.
The Niños tried to get back the lead, but seemed to lack the firepower.
Gilas’ Japhet Aguilar made a back-to-back slam dunks and Cebuano Greg Slaughter also chipped in for the nationals to the delight of the spectators.
There were some calls that went in favor of the Niños, that RP coach Rajko Taroman threatened not to finish the game with six minutes and 28 seconds left.
The proverbial cooler heads prevailed and the game continued.
The scores:
RP GILAS (83 ) – Tiu16, Casio 14, Lassiter 14, Baracael 11, Ababou 10, Aguilar 10, Slaughter 6 Barroca 2
MLKP NIÑOS (71 ) – Dixon 19, Padilla 13, Santos 10, Poligrates 8, Mepaña 7, Dacia 4, Magsumbol 3, Basco 2, Enriquez 2.
Source: Author Unknown | Philstar.com
No comments:
Post a Comment