Caloocan nips Pangasinan in MPBL, 77-74
THE Pangasinan Heatwaves endured a gut-wrenching loss against the Caloocan Batang Kankaloo in a nailbiter, 74-77, in the 7th Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) last September 30 at the Robert Estrella Sr. Memorial Gym in Rosales, Pangasinan.
Heading to the opening period, Chris Bitoon fueled Caloocan’s offense through his streaky layups to register five early points. On the flipside, Heatwaves’ Mike DiGregorio called up his own numbers and dialed in a 5-point cluster. In the final seconds of the quarter, King Gurtiza sank a half-court heave to give Pangasinan the lead, 24-18.
Coasting along the second frame, Pangasinan relied on the hot shooting of JP Maguliano through his floaters and notched six points. Batang Kankaloo’s Rommel Calahat retaliated off his hook shots and collected six points alongside a late triple of Bitoon to snatch the advantage in the halftime, 40-37.
A series of back-and-forth boiled down in the third with three lead changes and two deadlocks. Pangasinan’s Michael Mabulac got his rhythm back inside the painted area and produced six putback points, but Joseph Manlangit quickly responded with 4 points on his driving layups to tie the game at 55 all.
Underway in the fourth, Prince Casin waxed hot and buried back-to-back three-pointers for Caloocan. However, Allyn Bulanadi repulsed the threat on his 6-point scoring spree for Pangasinan. Clock winding down with 7.4 seconds remaining, Heatwaves’ Maguliano converted a catch-and-shoot triple to cut the lead within one, 74-75.
On the following play, Heatwaves’ Hesed Gabo fouled Kankaloo’s Jeff Manday in a rebound battle and made consecutive free throws, 77-74. With four ticks left, Heatwaves’ Allyn Bulanadi tried to bail out Pangasinan but missed the potential game-tying triple at the buzzer.
Caloocan got 12 points from Rommel Calahat, 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists from Bitoon, plus the 10 points and 10 boards of Jeff Manday.
Meanwhile, Pangasinan gathered 16 points and 8 rebounds from Maguliano reinforced with the 11 points of Bulanadi. With the recent loss, Pangasinan skidded to a 20-9 record and occupied the seventh spot in the Northern Division rankings of the 7th MPBL season. (Kim Gealogo)
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