MANILA – Iloilo United Royals-Cocolife survived a paltry second half officiating to take down Quezon Huskers, 73-64, in the 2023 Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League on Saturday night at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena City.
After seeing the double-digit lead trimmed to 57-56 with five minutes left, Iloilo went on 9-0 scoring run behind free throws by Tony Ynot and Omar Larupay, a basket by Joshua Flores and a triple by Conrad Catapusan for a 66-56 advantage.
The Huskers cut it to 61-68 via a conversion from Jeric Teng and Ximone Sandagon but Iloilo answered with a three-pointer from Ynot and free throws by Neil Tolentino to seal the upset win.
Ynot was hailed as the Player of the Game after tallying 18 points, including two three-point connections, to go with four rebounds, one assist and a steal as Iloilo improved to 4-5 in the standings.
Catapusan and Flores contributed 13 markers apiece, Tolentino also hit double-digits with 11 markers, while Larupay hauled 11 rebounds to go with seven markers for the Iloilo City-based team.
“May pressure din kasi home team sila (Quezon) pero pinaghandaan talaga namin sila,” Ynot said. “Nagtulong-tulong lang kaming mga teammates hanggang sa dulo kaya kami nanalo.”
The United Royals were blazing to start the game as they were on top 20-10 after the first period and were still ahead at 30-19 midway in the second period before the Huskers managed to cut it to 22-34 at the half.
The Huskers slowly clawed its way back in the third quarter after getting favorable calls from the officials but the United Royals had answers via triples by Flores and Catapusan to maintain the double-digit lead.
Baskets from Thomas Torres late in the third quarter and from Al Francis Tamsi and Teng early in the fourth cut the deficit to 52-55. Tolentino widened Iloilo’s lead to 57-52 but a basket from Sandagon and free throws by Teng cut the score to 56-57.
Sandagon finished with double-double 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Tamsi also had a near double-double 11 points and nine rebounds for the Huskers, which suffered its second straight defeat for a 7-2 record.
BOX SCORE:
ILOILO 73 – Ynot 18, Catapusan 13, J. Flores 13, Tolentino 11, Larupay 7, Sanchez 6, Ongteco 4, Korovesi 1, Madrigal 0, Sumido 0, Guion 0, Navarro 0, Basco 0, Javelosa 0, Arambulo 0.
QUEZON 64 – Sandagon 17, Tamsi 11, Teng 9, Beltran 6, Minerva 6, Torres 5, Casino 3, Pascual 2, Abundo 2, Ramos 0, Lagrama 0, Holmqvist 0, Alcala 0.
Quarterscores: 20-10, 34-22, 52-47, 73-64./PN
