PAMPANGA-Pradera Theme Park’s depth proved to be too much for Cagayan de Oro, racking up an 88-78 win to take a share of the lead in the 2023 Manila Bankers Life-Pilipinas Super League 18-Under Battle of the Champions last Tuesday at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando.
With the triumph, the Delta will head to their clash against NCR Leg champion Farm Fresh-Letran holding a 13-game winning streak, counting their sweep of the Luzon Leg and their 104-65 over Sherilin Unisol City of Naga on opening day.
The highly-anticipated clash offers the first finals ticket in the tournament co-presented by SCD and Dumper party-list.
Elijah Yusi of National University Nazareth School led the way for Pampanga-Pradera with 25 points built on five treys.
Veejay Pre of Far Eastern University-Diliman provided support with 19 points and 10 rebounds while Rhyle Melencio of De La Salle University added 12 points and seven rebounds.
The Higalas, who fell to 0-2, were paced by Rex Alcover (20 points) and Sean Magadan (18 points).
Sheilin-Unisol notched its first win after an 82-74 escape of Max Ballers-Davao.
Five players scored in double-digits for the Naga-based club, which fielded just eight players for the game.
Peter Peteros scored 18 points while Emmanuel Catalan got 14.
Jerome Aboitiz and Mark Solonia chipped in 13 markers apiece with the latter also grabbing 12 rebounds while Allen Roy Gako added 11 points.
