LUCENA CITY, Philippines – Former UE spitfire Robert Labagala took charge in the fourth quarter as Quezon posted an 87-67 rout over Manila at the start of their 2009 Smart Liga Pilipinas Conference II best-of-five quarterfinals series at the Quezon Convention Center late Saturday.
Labagala hit two triples in the last 6:11, defusing the Capitals’ fightback from 21 points down to within seven and keying a decisive 15-1 windup by the Red Oilers for the victory.
“We relaxed too early and it nearly cost us the game. I am just relieved that Rob bailed us out,” said Oilers coach Oliver Bunyi. “Manila is a great team and we will need to play 40 solid minutes every game to outlast them in this series.”
The Red Oilers outscored the Capitals in the second period, 24-6, and pulled away by halftime, 37-22.
Mark Magsumbol led the Red Oilers with 16 points while Labagala, the Taguig City leg MVP, finished with 14 points, five rebounds and six assists.
Kris Robles, Dennis Concha and Leimar Navarro paced the Caps with 10 points apiece.