LA TRINIDAD, Benguet
Fifth seed Tuba denied fourth seed Bokod a Final Four slot and quarterfinals is not yet over in the Cong. Eric Go Yap Congressional Cup – Benguet Basketball League at the Benguet Sports Complex. Tuba forced a do-or-die match on Sunday after dealing Bokod a 70-61 beating Thursday night. Raxl Apilado dropped the long-range bomb early then
defense clamped down Bokod’s big guns as Tuba maintained a sizable lead all through out to deny Bokod an outright entry to the round robin semifinals.
While Tuba were successful from the three point area, Bokod’s long hitters struggled to find their range plus the sticky defense resulted to turn-overs which the former capitalized on to almost score at will. Reyes had a double-double performance of a game high 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the fifth seed Tuba which was denied the higher seeding by Kabayan in the last of elimination games the other Thursday by a point. Instead, the much younger
Tuba side pounced on Bokod which was on a five-game streak to take on the fourth ranking which has a twice to beat
advantage.
Apilado finished with 13 points, defending most valuable player Cyril de Vera had 11 markers, while hauling 10
boards, dishing 10 dimes and had four steals, while Jervie Calivo added 10 markers, six rebounds and nine assists.
Ray Bilibli led Bokod with 15 markers, Shane Balnges had 14 points, while June Rey Buenaventura chipped in 12
points and a game high 17 rebounds for Bokod which needs to win the rubber match on Sunday in order to march to
the semifinals. Earlier, Itogon defeated Kapangan 89-80 to advance to the semifinals where defending champion La Trinidad and Kabayan are already entrenched.
Most valuable player top contender Kim Padawag, Sachi Caballero and Lenz Antolino dropped 19 points each to lead Itogon past the sixth seed Kapangan. Itogon may have a fiery start and was leading by as much as 11 but Kapangan caught fire and tied the game 25-all at the end of the first canto. However, Itogon started to distance itself in the second canto, leading by as much as 13 and Kapangan tried to play catch and come to as close as five. But Itogon hung on to join early semis bound La Trinidad and Kabayan. Leanrd Cabanes returned to duty after two months of absence due to an injury and scored 10 markers, while Chad Villanueva added seven points while hauling a game high 14 boards.
Top rookie of the year candidate Rudolf Eilinger had a 27-10 points-rebounds performance in his very last game, while Ferdinand Sapalong chipped in 23 markers on top of nine boards and seven dimes. Alexander Batanes added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the sixth seed Kapangan, the same finish as last year but a much improved win loss card of 8-4. Meanhwile, top seed Sablan seeks an outright entry to the semifinals when it tangles with Mankayan on Saturday at 1PM at the same venue, while Tuba and Tublay decide the last semis slot at 3PM. Sablan and Tuba carry a twice to beat advantage.
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