BACOOR CITY, Cavite – Basilan Steel sends Iloilo United Royals on the brink of elimination with an 83-68 victory in the quarterfinals round of the 2019-2020 Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Lakan Cup last night.
Basilan opened the match with a 12-0 offensive blast behind Jhaps Bautista and Jessie Collado. The Ilonggo basketball club was only able to register in the scoring board after more than five minutes via baskets from Ryan Arambulo. However, conversions from Dennis Daa and Bobby Balucanag thereafter surged Basilan to a 22-10 edge.
The Steel maintained the double-digit lead early in the second period, but Iloilo responded with a huge offensive run to trim the deficit to 36-39 on baskets from Arambulo and Jasper Parker. Once again, Basilan got way at halftime with a 42-36 lead courtesy of Jonathan Uyloan’s long bomb.
Basilan regained its form in the third outing by establishing a 56-42 lead with shots from Gabriel Dagangon and Dino Daa. Iloilo cut the deficit back to 53-58, but Uyloan’s triple once again gave Basilan the upper hand at 61-53.
The victors went for the kill in the final quarter with Bautista converting from two-point and three-point perimeters, while Balucanag and Daa also did their shares of murder that blew the lead to its largest at 77-57.
Bautista finished the match with 21points, followed by his teammates Daa and Hesed Gabo with 10 markers apiece for Basilan.
Parker, on the other hand, tallied 11 markers to lead the way for Iloilo in a losing effort, while Arambulo contributed 10 points. The Royals’ key players Richard Escoto and Rey Publico were held to just eight and five markers, respectively.
Game 2 of the best-of-three quarterfinals of the two teams will be on Feb.24. A win for Basilan will eliminate Iloilo, while a victory for the latter will send the series to a do-or-die matchup./PN
