Manila teammates Chris Bitoon and Riel Cervantes and General Santos City guard Leomar Losentes had breakthrough games late Wednesday night and powered their respective teams to contrasting victories in the MPBL Datu Cup at the JCSGO Gym.
Bitoon and Cervantes combined forces in powering the Stars to a come from behind 76-71 win over the Quezon City Capitals-Black Mamba Energy Drink.
The spitfire guard erupted for a career-high 26 points and 11 rebounds as he proved to be the scourge for the Capitals’ side.
Like, Bitoon, Cervantes also had a breakout game. The former Blackwater Elite ended up with 25 points and went a rebound away from posting a double-double performance for the Robust Energy Capsule-supported Stars, who improved their win-loss record to 12-2 and firmed up their hold of solo second spot in the tough northern division of this tournament put up by Senator Manny Pacquiao with PBA legend and former MVP Kenneth Duremdes serving as commissioner.
Bitoon and Cervantes, along with PBA aspirant Kyles Lao, who contributed 13 markers, made things possible for the Stars’ comeback from 16 points down.
A former star point guard of St. Clare, Bitoon had 10 points in the pivotal fourth, including the go-ahead lay up with 1:04 left that gave the Stars a 73-71 lead.
The Capitals, who led by 16 points twice in the game (49-33 and 51-35), veered away from their small ball unit that gave them much success in the third period, and decided to go on isolation plays when needed the most with Joko Tayongtong as the facilitator.
Tayongtong missed a potential game-tying jumper off an isolation play, then the Stars went to Cervantes, who was struggling with his outside game, but decided to pound the ball inside when mattered the most. His bucket in the last 27 seconds practically sealed the win for Manila.
The Capitals absorbed their eighth loss in 11 games.
Earlier, General Santos City held off Rizal’s last-minute rally before preserving a 65-58 victory in the first game.
Losentes came up with his most productive game in his MPBL career, scoring 26 points to lead the way for the Golden State College-backed Warriors. He had 11 of his total output in the first period alone, allowing his team to dictate the tempo early.
The win allowed the Warriors to improve their record to 6-7 and keep the eighth spot in the southern division.