PAGADIAN—Zamboanga Sibugay flexed its might against MFT Iligan to pull off an 82-71 win and take solo second spot in the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup Mindanao Challenge at the Pagadian City Gymnasium here, Wednesday.
The Anak Mindanao Warriors went on a blazing 28-9 first quarter, but the Archangels kept coming back.
Iligan got to within eight after a strong start to the third quarter, 41-49, but Zamboanga Sibugay retaliated right away with nine straight points to restore order, 58-41.
In the fourth quarter, Iligan slowly came back to within nine after a triple by Elmer Aparice with 2:05 remaining, 69-78.
But it was too little, too late as Shaq Imperial and Monbert Arong provided the daggers for Zamboanga Sibugay.
“Ni-remind ko lang sila before the game na huwag maging over-confident. Kaya noong nakakahabol ‘yung Iligan, sinabihan ko sila na huwag mag-relax,” said Warriors’ head coach Arnold Oliveros, who celebrated his birthday with the huge victory.
Zamboanga Sibugay improved to solo second seed at 7-4, with Basilan BRT as their last assignment on Friday, 4 pm.
Arong registered a game-high 23 points on 50 percent shooting from the field to go with four rebounds and two steals.
Imperial added 14 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and three steals, while Jaybie Mantilla had 11 points.
Lugie Cuyos led Iligan with 18 points and five rebounds, while Rendell Dela Rea and Eugene Torres combined for 21 points.
The Archangels finished the eliminations at 3-9 for seventh place and will have a twice-to-win disadvantage come the quarterfinals against the two-seed.