ZAMBOANGA Family’s Brand Sardines clawed back from a deep pit to stun Batangas City Embassy Chill 67-66 and snatch the South division crown in the OKbet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 4th Season Presented by Xtreme at the Vitaliano Agan Coliseum in Zamboanga City last Saturday.
Trailing by as many as 19 points in the third quarter 35-54, Zamboanga banked on a hangtime drive by Jaycee Marcelino with 39 seconds left to complete the brilliant comeback that pushed Zamboanga in the National Finals against North division champion Nueva Ecija.
Showing why he’s the MPBL All-Star MVP, Marcelino wound up with 14 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 assists to lead Zamboanga to a 2-1 series victory.
The Game 3 decider wasn’t devoid of drama as Batangas Coach Cholo Villanueva confronted MPBL commissioner Kenneth Duremdes at the center of the court asking for a decision on Cyrus Tabi’s infraction of hanging on the ring with still 0.9 seconds to go.
