Valenzuela's Lord Casajeros did not like what San Juan assistant coach Yong Garcia did to him. MPBL |
MANILA--San Juan gave longtime coach Randy Alcantara a great welcome back gift in the form of a 90-74 home win against Valenzuela in their MPBL clash on Monday night at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
Alcantara had to take some time off with the Knights, missing their MPBL season opener against All-Star Bacolod and the entire Filbasket Summer Championship in the process, to focus on his other job as Mapua Cardinals head coach.
In his return, however, Alcantara led San Juan in gradually pulling away from Valenzuela, in which the visiting squad was held to just 12 first quarter points and home club improved on its offense as the game went on.
However, the Knights' win did little in dousing cold water to the controversy surrounding Assistant Coach Yong Garcia.
Garcia was seen spitting on the Classic's Lord Casajeros late in the second quarter of their game following two chippy moments, one between him and Judel Fuentes and another between Allan Santos and Jammer Jamito.
Garcia was sent off the court following the incident, and the MPBL is expected to hand him stiff penalties.
Macky Acosta led San Juan, which bounced back from its loss to Bacolod, with 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting including three triples, two rebounds, and one steal.
Michael Calisaan added 15 markers, six boards, two dimes, and two blocks.
Ronjay Buenafe and Patrick Cabahug each tallied 15 markers for Valenzuela, which fell to 3-2.
In the first game, Pasig clobbered Mindoro for its first win of the MPBL season, 87-75.
Tonton Peralta led the Realtors, who recovered from their loss to the Batangas City Athletics two weeks ago, with 23 points, three rebounds, and one steal, while Jason Melano added 15 points, 17 rebounds, one assist, two steals, and one block.
Dariel Bayla tallies 19 markers, eight rebounds, three dimes, three steals, and two blocks for the Tamaraws, who remain winless at 0-4.
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