PAGADIAN. – Fourth seed Petra Cement-Roxas drew first blood by outlasting third seed home team Pagadian78-67in the 2021 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup best-of-three semifinals first phase at the Zambo del Sur City Gymnasium hereSunday.
After trailing by as much as 19, the Explorers came to within five after two free throws by Rich Guinitaran with 6:23 left in the payoff frame57-62.
But the Vanguards responded with a 10-2 blitz, capped by Jhong Bondoc’s corner triple, to pad the lead to 72-59with just 1:55 left.
Pagadian zoomed to a 21-10 leadbut Roxas answered with a momentum-shifting 26-7 run in the second period to turn the game around at the break36-28.
The Petra Cement-backed squad continued its momentum and opened the third quarter with a 15-4 rally, capped by James Castro’s freebie at the 5:05 mark, 51-32.
Bondoc made a tournament-best 21 points to go with five assists, five rebounds, and a steal for Roxas.
James Castro stuffed the stat sheet with 19 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and two steals.
Big man Lester Reyes had a huge double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds. He had an exclamation point with a one-handed dunk in the waning seconds of the game.
Guinitaran had a game-high 22 points on 50 percent shooting from the field alongside seven rebounds but he had no help from other Pagadian cagers.
Keanu Caballero flunked all his seven shots, finishing with just two points from the charity stripe. He also got seven assists, three rebounds, and a steal.
The Vanguards shoot for a seat in the second phase of the semifinals tomorrow, 6 p.mm, while the Explorers aim to forge a rubber match.
