The No. 2 Seed Bacoor Strikers beat the No. 18 Bacolod City of Smiles, 91-86, for a two-game win streak in the OKBet-MPBL Fifth Season last Monday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
In their matchup, the Strikers were clearly the dominant team, leading by a wide margin, 74-50 in the late minutes of the third quarter. However, Bacoor got too comfortable, letting Bacolod have a 19-5 run and erased their 24-point lead. Mark Sarangay, who had 22 points, nine rebounds, and two assists was leading the City of Smiles squad in their attempt to make a comeback.
Unfortunately for them, Bacoor was able to regain their composure. With 19 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, and the lead cut to just three at 89-86, the City Strikers were able to keep John Cantimbuhan and Domark Legario Matillano from giving the lead to Bacolod.
Four seconds remaining in the final quarter, James Canlas Kwekuteye of the Strikers made two clutch free throws after being fouled by Cantimbuhan, eventually handing the victory to Bacoor.
Veteran Chito Jaime led Bacoor with his 15 points, 12 of which he poured in the third quarter. His unbelievable performance that quarter merited into being named the best player of the game. Michael Canete and Kwekuteye each added11 points to help the Strikers get the win.
For Bacolod, Sarangay’s 22-point outburst was for naught. Cantimbuhan chipped in 14 points, while Ryusei Koga and Alfred Sedillo, added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Bacolod improves to 18 wins and four losses, while Bacolod falls down to 9 wins and 14 defeats.
As of this writing, the MBPL is in Palayan City at the Nueva Ecija Coliseum, with Bataan playing against Laguna at 4 p.m., followed by a Quezon Province versus Valenzuela at 6 p.m. MPBL will end its game night with a duel between Pasig and Nueva Ecija at 8 p.m.
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