MANILA – San Juan bounced back from its Game 1 loss to equalize in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Finals with a 70-65 Game 2 win against Davao Occidental on Thursday night at the Subic Bay Gymnasium.
The Knights crawled back from a 43-50 third quarter deficit by going on a 17-2 run spanning to the fourth quarter for a 60-52 lead before holding on against the Tigers especially with crucial stops from CJ Isit and Larry Rodriguez.
The win came as a sigh of relief for Coach Randy Alcantara, who did not want to see his San Juan club go down 0-2 in the best-of-five series especially with the unique daily game setup.
"Tinake namin ito as parang knockout game na talaga kasi kung ma 0-2 kami, mahirap nang makabawi syempre yung fatigue eh kasi diba magkakasunod ang laro (We took this as some sort of a knockout game already because if we fall down 0-2, it would be hard to bounce back due to fatigue. The games will be played daily, right) ?," Alcantara said.
John Wilson led the Knights, who tied the series at one game apiece, with 17 points, three rebounds, one assist, two steals, and one block off the bench.
Mike Ayonayon also played a great performance as he added 15 points, two rebounds, nine assists, two steals, and two blocks.
Eman Calo put up a 26-point blast on 7-of-13 shooting and 9-of-10 free throws for the Tigers.
Game 3 will be played on Saturday.
The scores:
SAN JUAN 70 – Wilson 17, Ayonayon 15, Clarito 9, Rodriguez 8, Reyes 4, Gabawan 4, Isit 3, Wamar 3, Estrella 3, Pelayo 3, Tajonera 1, Aquino 0, Bunag 0, Marquez 0
DAVAO OCCIDENTAL 65 – Calo 26, Yee 13, Robles 11, Balagtas 6, Mocon 2, Custodio 2, Gaco 2, Terso 1, Ludovice 1, Albo 1, Raymundo 0, Bonleon 0
Quarterscores: 15-15, 38-37, 52-50, 70-65 (PNA)
