DAVAO Occidental overcame a slow start to nip Bicol, 77-71, in Game One of the South Division quarterfinals in the 2020 Chooks-to-Go Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) Lakan Cup playoffs Monday at Rizal Memorial Colleges Gym.
Joseph Terso's three with 1:38 left gave the Tigers a 74-67 lead, but the Volcanoes kept on clawing as Jerome Garcia scored four straight to keep the game close, 74-71 with 24.8 seconds remaining.
Yvan Ludovice sealed the game for Davao Occidental as he calmly canned his three freebies late to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
"It's playoff basketball. We have to be ready for that kind of situation where our opponent comes out aggressive," said coach Don Dulay. "We were able to adjust in the second half and good thing we came out with the win."
Mark Yee topscored for the Cocolife-backed Tigers with 20 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, as Eman Calo scored 18 points off the bench.
Billy Ray Robles also sparked Davao Occidental's second-half comeback, scoring all of his 11 points in the final two quarters, while making nine rebounds, three blocks, two assists and a steal as the Tigers used a huge 28-point third quarter charge to flip the game from a 36-27 halftime deficit to a 55-53 lead heading into the payoff period.
Davao Occidental is looking to progress to the South Division semifinals with Game Two scheduled on Friday at Batangas City Coliseum.
Garcia led eighth-seed Bicol with 15 points, while Chris Lalata scored 12 .
Ronjay Buenafe was limited to 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting from the field for the LCC Malls-backed Volcanoes.
The scores:
Davao Occidental 77 - Yee 20, Calo 18, Robles 11, Ludovice 10, Mocon 6, Custodio 5, Saldua 4, Terso 3, Raymundo 0, Balagtas 0.
Bicol 71 - Garcia 15, Lalata 12, Alday 11, Buenafe 10, Aldave 8, Guerrero 4, Ongteco 4, Lao 3, Mondragon 3, Manalang 1, Gusi 0, Salinas 0.
Quarterscores: 14-20; 27-36; 55-53; 77-71.
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Source: Spin PH
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