Host MP Warriors notch 1st Liga win

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines – The host MP Warriors of GenSan gained their first win of the Smart Liga Pilipinas Conference General Santos City leg with a 101-75 whitewashing of the Zamboanga Uno Latinos Thursday at the General Santos City Gymnasium.

The easy win send the Warriors of Manny Pacquiao and coach Ramon Pido into a knockout game against the Smart-Pampanga Buddies for the second seat in Saturday’s leg finals.

The Warriors lost on opening day Wednesday to the Quezon Red Oilers, 74-78. GenSan was led in scoring by point guard Bob Yllanga with 19 points.

Earlier in the day, the hot Red Oilers subdued the Buddies, 70-68, to have the upper hand at the first championship slot in the games supported by Smart, Accel, Molten, Calcium-Cee, Gatorade, Air 21 and Burlington and sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).

The Buddies of coach Allan Gregorio squandered a 19-point lead en route to dropping their win-loss card at 1-1 similar to the Warriors. Red Oilers guard Roberts Labagala bungled two free throws with 1.4 seconds left in the game and their side ahead, 70-68. Buddies center Claiford Arao grabbed the defensive rebound and fired a prayer of a shot that hit the back end of the rim at the buzzer. It was a tough loss for Pampanga, which is hoping to barge into its third consecutive leg finals.

The Red Oilers of Gov. Raffy Nantes and Coach Oliver Bunyi upped their record to 2-0.