Batangas City—Cebu bounced back in a big way by pulling off a 72-66 upset win over inaugural staging champion Batangas City to finally make it to the win column of the MPBL Datu Cup at the Batangas City Coliseum here Thursday night.
Earlier, Bacoor picked up its first back-to-back wins of the season as it drew big games from Mikee Reyes and PBA legend Marlou Aquino in whipping Caloocan, 86-68.
Reyes, the former prized guard from University of the Philippines, dished out a triple-double performance, finishing with 21 points, a career-tying 15 assists and 10 rebounds.
But it was Aquino, who nearly stole the show as the three-time PBA champion played his best game since being plucked out of retirement. He contributed 16 markers for the Strikers, who improved their win-loss record to 3-2.
Criticized by the passionate Cebuano cage fans following a scoreless quarter in their forgettable game against the Manila Stars last time around, the Sharks went for the kill right from the get-go and played with a sense of urgency against the Tanduay-backed Athletics.
Rhaffy Octobre played probably one of the best games of his basketball career as he finished with a double-double of 25 points and 10 rebounds to trigger the Casino Ethyl Alcohol-backed Sharks’ energized performance following a big let down against the Stars.
Octobre admitted he had sleepless nights as well as the other teammates.
“Hindi talaga kami nakatulog noon, pati mga teammates ko,” said Octobre. “Inisip namin kung paano kami magsisimula ulit. “Ang daming nag-bash sa amin, na wala daw kaming ibubuga sa liga sa Manila. Kaya sinabihan kami ng mga coaches na ipakita namin yung larong Cebuano.”
True enough, the Cebuanos played business as usual.
After trailing 4-0 in the early goings, they held their rivals to just a single field goal in the next eight minutes of play to finally take control of the game. They led by as many as 19 points, 47-28, halfway the third period off a jumper by Patrick Cabahug.