PAGADIAN. – Roxas extended Basilan BRT’s misery on Sunday, scoring an 83-77 victory in the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup Mindanao Challenge at the Pagadian City Gymnasium here.
With the win, the Vanguards forged a five-way logjam for the top spot with the Basilan Peace Riders, MisOr, Kapatagan, and Zamboanga Sibugay at 3-2.
Kentoy Segura’s steady shooting from the free-throw line down the stretch proved to be the key for Roxas. He wound up with 17 points, five rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block.
A huge 19-7 rally by Basilan in the fourth pushed them back ahead 74-71, capped by back-to-back triples by Med Salim, with just 2:28 to go.
But Marlon Monte and Cyrus Tabi combined for four points while Junjie Hallare and Jorem Morada joined hands for three points, allowing the Vanguards to inch within two, 75-77 with 1:12 remaining.
Segura, fouled for three straight possessions, made all six to give his side a four-point lead before Tabi added more insurance freebies.
“Nag-sub lang kami ng nag-sub hanggang ayun mag-match ‘yung lineup,” said Roxas head coach Alvin Grey.
Kapatagan stretched its winning run to three after toppling Globalport-MisOr 65-63 earlier.
Down by 11 early in the fourth frame, the Valientes went on a blistering 13-0 blast, capped by Nicole Ubalde’s layup, to regain the lead 61-59 with 3:26 to go.
Richard Kwong led a 5-2 run, including a 3-of-4 clip from the line, to give the lead back to the Buffalos 64-63 with 17.7 seconds remaining.
