MANILA, Philippines - Misamis Oriental routed Mandaue, 98-68, to clinch the first finals seat in the fourth leg of the Tournament of the Philippines (TOP) at the Cebu Coliseum in Cebu City last Wednesday.
Earlier, ANI-FCA finally nailed its first victory, blasting MP Pacman GenSan, 104-82.
The Meteors rode on a big run in the third period, outscoring the hosts, 28-15, to turn what had been a tight first half contest into a runaway victory, their second straight in the tournament jointly organized by Philippine Basketball League and Liga Pilipinas.
“I was disappointed with the way we played especially in the second quarter. So I told them to get back to our system and stick to our game plan while putting the pressure on the Mandaue guards,” said MisOr coach Jun Noel.
Meanwhile, James Sena and Ford Arao took charge for the Cultivators, scoring 18 and 17 points, respectively, while Earn Saguindel, Christian Luanzon and Jopher Custodio combined for 22 points to help deliver the breakthrough win for ANI-FCA.
“It really feels good,” said ANI-FCA coach Arsenio Dysangco.
The win ended ANI-FCA’s 12-game losing skid, including seven during its PBL debut last March.
The Cultivators thus tied the Warriors of boxing icon Manny Pacquiao at 1-1 in the tournament sponsored by Air21, Molten, Ascof Lagundi, Agrinurture, Treston College, Burlington and Basketball TV.
Former UAAP scoring champion Patrick Cabahug had 18 points on 9-of-17 shooting as the Meteors posted the largest winning margin (30) so far in the four-week-old tournament.