MANILA – Bacolod BingoPlus fell short of its comeback bid in Game 2 of the 2022 Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Southern Division quarterfinals after a 77-72 loss to GenSan Warriors on Monday night at the Batangas City Coliseum.
After being down by as much as 19 points early in the third quarter, the Bacolodnons mustered a furious run behind Jhan McHale Nermal and Jayboy Solis to force a deadlock at 55-all.
Nikko Pangilinan, however, hoisted back-to-back three-pointers to keep the Warriors afloat at 61-57 but Bacolod leaned on baskets by Nermal and Mark Yee to cut the deficit to a point.
GenSan widened the lead to 74-69 on free throws by Chris Masaglang and Panganiban but Bacolod made its last push at 72-74 on a triple by Nermal. The Warriors answered back with a triple by Panganiban for a 77-72 count with 11 seconds left.
Panganiban finished the game with 24 points, six rebounds and two assists as the Warriors sent the series to a do-or-die Game 3 to be held in General Santos City at an undetermined date.
“Ang mindset ko lang talaga is makabawi from Game 1 kasi hindi ako ramdam ng team ko,” Panganiban said. “Hindi pa tapos ang series so we have to prepare again for Game 3.”
Masaglang had another solid outing with 15 markers. Christian Fajarito added 13 points, including two three-point conversions, as Mark Cruz chipped in nine markers for the Warriors.
The Warriors opened an early 16-6 lead behind early hits by Cruz and outside conversions by Panganiban and Fajarito but Bacolod clawed its way back to tie the score at 25-all.
GenSan regained its shooting touch behind Masaglang to build a 44-30 lead at the half before widening it to its largest at 49-30 early in the third quarter on shots by Panganiban and Nico Elorde.
Nermal was the lone bright spot for the Bacolod BingoPlus with 25 points, with 17 markers coming in the second half, while Yee was limited with his offense as he ended up with 11 points.
BOX SCORE:
GENSAN 77 – Panganiban 24, Masaglang 15, Fajarito 13, Cruz 9, Elorde 5, Belencion 3, Gomez 3, Mondragon 2, Chan 2, Reverente 1, Pingoy 0, Orbeta 0, Hilario 0.
BACOLOD 72 – Nermal 25, Yee 11, Ilagan 8, Alday 7, Cabanag 7, Solis 6, Jeruta 4, Lee Yu 2, Villoria 2, Dionson 0.
Quarterscores: 23-16, 44-30, 55-47, 77-72./PN
