CPG sweeps VisMin Cup 1st round; Zamboanga, Basilan win

ZAMBOANGA – Carlos P. Garcia (CPG) of Bohol completed a sweep of the first round of the GlobalPort-VisMin Super Cup after the Dolphins subdued the SND Barracudas, 96-80, at the Mayor Vitaliano Agan Coliseum on Sunday night.

Import Joel Gonzallo finished with 27 points on an 11-of-16 shooting from the field while Nikko Panganiban contributed 17 markers on top of five boards.

Three more CPG players — Chris Masaglang, Lester Reyes and Joel Bonganciso — also ended up in double figures.

Masaglang produced 14 points and four rebounds, Reyes added 12 on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor and Joel Bonganciso went a rebound away from completing a double-double performance after tallying 10 points for CPG, which shot a high 54.1% from the field.

CPG Bohol won all its seven games in the first round and remained as the only unbeaten team in the tournament.

Zamboanga and Macfi-Basilan ended the first round on a winning note to forge a three-way tie for third to fifth places with OCCCI Ormoc.

Jeff Bernardo had a breakout performance for the Valientes as he came away with his season-high of 23 points, four rebounds, three assists and six steals in an all-around performance to spark his team's 82-75 win over Tubigon.  

Bernardo's breakout performance made up for the absence of import Prinze Eze, who has been sidelined by a knee injury, which he incurred during the Valientes' game against ZamPen.

Basilan outlasted OCCCI-Ormoc in overtime, 100-94, as Mustapha Arafat took over in the extra period to propel the Golden Lions to their fourth win in seven games.

In beating the Sheer Masters, Basilan, Ormoc and Zamboanga forged a three-way tie for third to fifth places, all of them carrying the same 4-3 slates.     

Arafat ended up with 26 points, 15 rebounds and three steals. 

Also winning at the end of the first round was Lawaan Kalos.Ph, which nipped McDavid-Zampen, 97-93.

Kalos.Ph picked up its fifth win in seven games to firm up its hold of the second spot in this tournament.