MANILA – Iloilo United Royals’ winning streak in the 2019-2020 Chooks-to-Go MPBL Lakan Cup was halted after a 96-92 defeat to Muntinlupa-Angelis Resort Cagers at the San Andres Sports Complex in Manila City.
After winning its last six matches, the Royals struggled heavily on Friday night against the already eliminated Cagers that slipped to a tie for the fourth place in the Southern division at 15-9 record.
With the Cagers leading 38-25, the
Royals ended the first half on a 22-11 blast – including three triples from
Mark Racho – to trim the deficit to just two, 47-49, at the break.
The Royals went toe-to-toe with the Cagers in the third to take a 72-70 edge
before it struggled on offense as they were without a field-goal in the fourth
period until the 2:29 mark on a triple by Aaron Jeruta to cut the deficit to
82-89.
“We really prepared for Iloilo. Alam na
namin ‘yung gagawin nilang pupunta sila sa three-pointer. We were just
finding the mismatches, we go small when they went big,” said Cagers head coach
Chico Tirona.
Biboy Enguio finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Edzel Mag-isa added 14
markers while Paeng Regubio and GJ Ylagan chipped in 11 apiece for the Cagers,
which improved to 6-19.
Ilonggo Jeruta had 21 points on four triples while Alfrancis Tamsi got 18
markers, all from behind the arc for the Royals./PN
