MANDAUE CITY , Philippines – Forward Taguig and Quezon fashioned out impressive victories over their respective rivals at the start of the Smart Liga Pilipinas Conference III Mandaue City leg at the Mandaue City Sports and Cultural Center here Wednesday.
New recruit Jeffrey Sanders fired 18 points and pulled down nine rebounds while Lou Gatumbato also scored 18 points and made nine assists as Taguig dominated the Zamboanga Uno Latinos, 112-85.
Charleston Bolias and Christopher Concepcion combined for 43 points for the Latinos.
The Red Oilers, meanwhile, spoiled the home debut of Cebu Landmaster-Mandaue as it ran away with a 79-66 victory.
Angelus Raymundo, the MVP of the General Santos City leg topped by the Red Oilers three weeks ago, sustained his form and finished with a team-best 15 points and nine rebounds. Ramsey Williams backed him up with 12 points and three assists.
John Paul Alcaraz led Mandaue with 14 points and four assists while Jerome Cenita had 13 points.
The one point earned for the win put Taguig in a tie with national champion Misamis Oriental with 26 points for the second outright berth in next month’s five-team Super Leg that will determine the next National Champion of the league.
The tournament is backed by Smart, Accel, Molten, Calcium-Cee, Gatorade, Air 21 and Burlington and sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).
Selected games from the Mandaue City leg will be telecast next week over Solar Sports from Wednesday to Saturday. Liga Pilipinas Classics are also aired daily on Viva Prime Channel. For more information, visit www.ligapilipinas.net.