Pangasinan thwarts Cebu in MPBL, 83-77
THE Pangasinan Heatwaves asserted their grit and tenacity after warding off the Cebu Greats in a see-saw battle, 83-77, in their showdown during the 7th Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) game last September 8 at the Calasiao Sports Complex.
Early in the first period, Cebu demonstrated its shooting prowess with a back-to-back three-pointers to produce a 6-0 run. However, Heatwaves’ Jorey Napoles and Allyn Bulanadi quickly answered with 10 combined points to take the lead, 18-13.
In the second frame, Reeve Ugsang propelled Cebu’s scoring cudgels through his perimeter shots to tally five points, but Bulanadi repelled the threat of his two triples to keep Pangasinan afloat at the half, 35-31.
Coasting along the third, the Greats managed to crawl back courtesy of Jun Manzo’s inside hits to capture the advantage, 50-49. In response, Heatwaves’ Napoles delivered an and-one play off a putback layup to retake the lead, 55-53.
Midway in the fourth, Manzo tried to bail out Cebu and produced an 8-point cluster to rally, 69-75.
On the flipside, Heatwaves’ frontcourt Napoles and Jay Collado both showed up in clutch to score 14 markers. Napoles nailed consecutive jumpers while Collado banked two straight running floaters to clinch the victory.
Napoles led Pangasinan with 19 points and 17 boards to register a double-double performance to claim the best player honors , while Bulanadi provided 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Over at Cebu, Manzo put up 18 points and five assists, reinforced with the contributions of Paolo Hubalde and Ugsang with 12 points apiece.
Pangasinan bolstered their playoff chances with 17 wins against 7 losses and is currently at the fifth spot of the Northern Division standings with only 5 games left in the regular season. (Kim Gealogo)
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