BATANGAS CITY—The Batangas City Athletics gave Batanguenos something to cheer about with a scary 70-66 victory over the Marikina Shoemasters late Wednesday in the Chooks-to-Go MPBL Lakan Season at Batangas State University gymnasium.
Also-ran Marikina had a chance to overturn the result, but Yves Sazon’s 3-pointer with two seconds left was blocked by Jason Melano, allowing the Tanduay-backed Athletics to preserve their 16th win against 11 losses and barge into the playoffs of the South division.
Jeff Viernes, who split his free throws for a 68-66 lead with 10 seconds to go, got the ball in the ensuing scramble after the rejection and was fouled at the buzzer. He made both charities for the final count, to the relief of the packed crowd, many of whom are feeling the pinch of the recent Taal Volcano eruption, which has disrupted life in the progressive province.
Viernes finished with 15 points and 3 rebounds, followed by Jhaymo Eguilos with 13 points plus 7 rebounds, and Melano with 10 points plus 8 rebounds for the Athletics who moved ahead of the eighth-ranked Bicol Volcanoes (15-13) and beyond reach of No. 9 Cebu Casino Ethyl Alcohol (13-14).
Marikina dropped to 6-20 despite the 28-point, 6-rebound effort of Sazon and the 17-point, 7-rebound output of Ular.
Batangas’ advance to the next round took the spotlight out of Davao Occidental’s clinical 106-90 conquest of the also-ran Muntinlupa Cagers.
Mark Yee tallied 25 points and 10 rebounds as the Davao Occidental Tigers kept top spot in the South with a 23-4 record.
The Cocolife-supported Tigers, who pulled away at 96-68, also drew 19 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists from Emman Calo and 11 points plus 4 rebounds from June Kenneth Mocon.
Muntinlupa, which tumbled to 6-20 in the North division, got 22 points from John Edmar Ylagan, 16 from Edsel Mag-isa, 13 from Paeng Rebugio and 11 from Dave Moralde.
Bacolod Master’s Sardines subdued Valenzuela Cargo Backload Solutions, 83-78, in a battle between two teams headed to the exits.
Homegrown Edgar Charcos scored 14, Jopher Custodio 13, Yankee Haruna 11 and Jess Mar Villahermosa 10 for Bacolod which improved to 10-17.
Valenzuela skidded to 11-17 despite Paolo Hubalde’s 17-point, 10-rebound, 7-assist, 3-steal contribution. Hubalde missed a novel triple-double when he committed 9 turnovers.
The MPBL visits Malolos Sports and Convention Center on Thursday with Rizal battling Bicol at 4:15 p.m. Iloilo tackles Sarangani at 6:30 p.m. while Quezon City takes on host Bulacan at 8:30 p.m.