Bulacan bolsters playoff seeding with win over Parañaque

Jay-R Taganas led the Kuyas to a very important win against the Patriots. MPBL

By Dugout Philippines

BIÑAN, LAGUNA -- Bulacan solidified their hold of the fourth spot with a 76-69 triumph over the also-ran Parañaque-Yabo Sports in the 2019 Chooks-to-Go/MPBL Lakan Cup, Friday at the Alonte Sports Arena here.

With the victory, the Kuyas upgraded their standing to 17-8, solidifying the fourth place in the Northern Division.

"Mas maganda yung game namin ngayon compared sa previous game namin. I applaud my players, especially yung first group namin with [how] they handled the press," said Bulacan head coach Kerwin McCoy.

Bulacan came out strong in the second half, leading by as big as 18 points capped off by a step-back jumper from Rev Diputado, 60-42.

With the game looking out of Parañaque's reach, the Patriots rallied behind Keith Pido and Jemal Vizcarra in the final frame.

Pido drained timely buckets while Vizcarra nailed a three-pointer which sliced the Kuyas' lead to just three points, 63-66, with 5:05 left in the clock.

JR Alabanza, Stephen Siruma, and Jay-R Taganas, though had other things in mind. The troika joined hands in a 7-2 spurt before Lester Alvarez stepped on the Patriot's comeback hopes by connecting a three to put Bulacan up by nine points with 1:47 left.

Taganas spearheaded Bulacan -- who won its fifth consecutive outing -- with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Bulacan's homegrown star Stephen Siruma and Rev Diputado added 12 points each for the Kuyas.

On the other hand, Pido led Parañaque with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field.

The Yabo Sports-backed team fell to 8-17 to remain at the twelfth spot also in the Northern Division.

The scores:

Bulacan (76) -- Taganas 16, Diputado 12, Siruma 12, Alabanza 9, Arim 7, Santos 6, Alvarez 5, Dela Cruz 4, Antipiesto 3, Nermal 0

Parañaque-Yabo Sports (69) -- Pido 16, Vizcarra 9, Abugan 8, Mangalino 8, Menguez 8, Begaso 7, Banzala 6, Solis 5, Antonares 5, Lucente 5, Larotin 0, Saguiguit 0, Sunga 0, Rabe 0, Lucente 0

Quarterscores: 19-11, 44-33, 62-51, 76-69

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