MANILA – Makati-Super Crunch leaned on the exploits of Juneric Baloria in the fourth quarter to upend Bulacan Kuyas, 94-88, in Game 1 of the 2019-20 Chooks-to-Go/MPBL Lakan North quarterfinals at the San Andres Sports Complex.
Trailing by six points midway in the fourth quarter, Baloria spearheaded a huge run by Makati. He scored seven of his team’s 14 unanswered points to give his side an 81-74 edge with 4:42 left to play.
Bulacan managed to close the gap to two points on conversions from JR Alabanza and Oliver Arim but Joseph Sedurifa and Joshua Torralba took the scoring cudgels for Makati to build a 94-81 edge with 32 seconds left to play.
Baloria led Makati’s offensive attack with 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting, along with three rebounds and two assists.
Sedurifa finished with 17 points, seven boards, four assists, and two steals while Cedric Ablaza had 17 markers as well.
“Naging patient lang kami sa depensa. Tumaas ‘yung energy, saka gumanda ‘yung shooting percentage namin. Naging consistent lang din kami sa depensa,” said Makati head coach Beaujing Acot.
Meanwhile, Bacoor City Strikers also moved closer to barging into the semifinals round after a 95-72 rout of GenSan Warriors.
Also, the Manila Stars pounded Pasig-Sta. Lucia Realtors, 91-88./PN
