TAGUIG CITY , Philippines – The Trace-Laguna Stallions claimed the fifth and last slot in next week’s Smart Liga Pilipinas Conference III Super Leg in Cebu City by stopping Forward Taguig, 70-68, in a dramatic turnaround Wednesday at the C. P. Tinga Memorial Hall.
Laguna bucked the twice to beat advantage of Taguig and won consecutive games on the Batang Global homecourt to catch the last trip to the national finals of the country’s premiere regional basketball league.
The Stallions will be joining early qualifiers undefeated ML Kwarta Padala Cebu Niños, second seeded Smart Pampanga Buddies, defending national champions Misor Meteors, and another wildcard qualifier Quezon Red Oilers in the five-team, seven-day tournament that will crown the next Liga Pilipinas national champion of the league supported by Smart, Molten, Accel, Calcium-Cee, Gatorade, Air 21 and Burlington and sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).
Cebuano forward Jan Villaver engineered the victory, hitting a long triple with 1:35 left in the contest that returned the lead to the Stallions of Atty. Erwin Genuino.
and Coach Nomar Isla for good, 69-68. Earlier, Jeff Sanders and Erickson Araman put Taguig on top for the last time via consecutive three-point plays, 68-66, and 2:26 to go.
After Villaver’s triple, Taguig’s offense suddenly went cold. Christopher Baluyot was forced to foul Alex Angeles, who split his free throws for the final tally with five seconds to play. With Coach Bing Victoria out of timeouts, Taguig rushed down the court but Villaver managed to bat the ball away. Nino Marquez briefly recovered the possession, only to be stalled by Angeles at the buzzer.
The Stallions led by as much as 13 markers in the third stanza, 55-42. A seven-point cluster by Billy Moody signaled Taguig’s comeback, cutting the deficit entering the fourth period, 54-59. Unlike the other day, Taguig started strong to take the first period behind Ariel de Castro and Sanders, 21-18.
Villaver, originally from Talisay City, led all scorers with 22 points on five triples. Alfie Grijaldo followed with 11 points and six rebounds. Sanders paced Taguig with 13 points while de Castro added 11.
“My challenge to the team was for our second unit to prove they can play as starters,” explained winning coach Isla. “Today and yesterday, they passed the challenge so hopefully this will continue up to the Super Leg. Cebu here we come.”
The Liga Pilipinas Wild Card games and the whole Super Leg will be aired on Solar Sports starting next week. Liga Pilipinas Classics are also seen daily on Viva Prime Channel. For more details, check out www.ligapilipinas.net.