Zamboanga, Basilan enter VisMin Cup semis

ZAMBOANGA – The Zamboanga Valientes and Macfi-Basilan Golden Lions completed the semifinals cast following their victories late Monday night in the GlobalPort-VisMin Super Cup at the Mayor Vitaliano Agan Coliseum here.

The Valientes turned back the McDavid-ZamPen, 85-75, to officially claim the No.3 seed in the tournament. 

Zamboanga will face early qualifier and second seed OCCCI-Ormoc Sheer Masters, who will have a twice-to-beat advantage beginning Thursday.

For Zamboanga, beating its crosstown rival ZamPen was a must and they had to do it the hard way.

The Valientes overcame a 14-point deficit entering the final quarter as the team unloaded 18 unanswered as ZamPen self-destructed.

With ZamPen's main men Henry Iloka, Jojo Cunanan and Dexter Mescallado resting from the bench, Zamboanga seized the momentum and put together a big run.

By the time ZamPen's main gunners returned, momentum has already shifted on the side of Zamboanga, which was cheered no end by the local crowd that trooped to the venue in full support of a home team desperate to get a win.

Earlier, Macfi-Basilan walloped Sultan Naga Dimaporo, 133-100, in the other game to secure the last semifinals berth.

Shaq Alanes scored a game-high 36 points, easily his most productive game in the tournament.

Jethro Sombero finished with a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds while import Moustapha Arafat, Bernie Bregondo and Kim Siegue added 12 markers and Johnedel Waminal contributed 10 for the Golden Lions.