MANILA – Bacolod BingoPlus suffered a tough 72-70 overtime loss to Pampanga Giant Lanterns in the 2022 Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Season on Monday night at the Bren Guiao Convention Center in Pampanga.
Michael John Garcia broke the hearts of the Bacolodnons. He scored a go-ahead basket for the Giant Lanterns to take a 72-70 advantage with under a minute left in the contest.
The Bacolodnons still had an opportunity to snatch the victory but the tight defense of the Giant Lanterns on Mark Yee led to a wayward three-point attempt of Jhan Nermal at the buzzer.
Garcia finished the game with 11 points, with seven coming in the first two quarters, as the Giant Lanterns broke from its deadlock with the Bacolodnons with its 8-4 win-loss record.
Archie Concepcion spearheaded the offense for the Pampangenos with 16 markers, including a number of triples in the opening half, while Jayson Apolonio contributed 11 points.
Pampanga surged to a 27-19 lead in the second period but Bacolod slowly clawed its way back before surging to a 49-45 lead on consecutive points by Nermal. The Giant Lanterns rode on baskets by Apolonio to erase the deficit and give his team a 51-50 lead.
Bacolod kept Pampanga scoreless in the first four minutes of the final quarter as they took a 56-51 lead via connections from Jeramer Cabanag and Joel Lee Yu but the home team rode on the exploits of Jeremiah Lagrama to regain the advantage.
It was a seesaw battle for both teams since then until the Giant Lanterns took a 64-63 advantage on an inside hit by Alex Ramos but a split free throw by Edrian Lao prevented the Bacolodnons from taking the lead and instead send the game into OT.
In the extension period, Bacolod quickly got the advantage at 70-67 on baskets by Yee and Nermal but Pampanga leaned on free throws by Jomer Mercado and Concepcion for the final deadlock of the match at 70-all.
Nermal and Yee ended up with 13 markers apiece, while Lao and Alwyn Alday added 11 points each for Bacolod, which will try to bounce back on August 20 against Rizal Golden Coolers at the same venue.
BOX SCORE:
PAMPANGA 72 – Concepcion 16, Apolonio 11, Garcia 11, Lagrama 7, Reyes 6, Ramos 6, Maynes 5, J. Capulong 4, Mercado 4, Vera 0, Isidro 0, Cruz 0, Binuya 0, R. Capulong 0.
BACOLOD 70 – Nermal 13, Yee 13, Alday 11, Lao 11, Villoria 6, Lee Yu 4, Jeruta 4, Ilagan 3, Albo 3, Cabanag 2, Pastias 0.
Quarterscores: 15-15, 34-31, 51-50, 64-64, 72-70./PN
