Red Cubs ran over Don Papa in last Sunday’s Next5Hoops Metro Manila Central Qualifier Intermediate Division action.
The Red Cubs came away with a 107-74 victory as they displayed impeccable shooting and strong effort on defense. Six players from the Red Cubs ended up in double-figures. Mark Pedroso was a beast coming off the bench with 24 points and seven rebounds. James Panaligan contributed 21 points, including five shots from beyond the arc.
Raymond Maggay and Benedict Tirado each had a tremendous all-around performance for the Red Cubs too. Both players nearly had a triple-double in their win. Maggay went 11-13-16 while Tirado put up 8-18-7.
The Red Cubs attacked early, scoring 25 points in the opening period, and Don Papa failed to mount a comeback in the succeeding quarters. Oliver Gazo netted 16 points and Frankie Talaboc had 14 in the loss.
In game two, Berliner edged Caron for a 94-90 win.
Berliner’s Aaron Tolentino was unstoppable with his 37-point performance. He even made five three-pointers and had a 63 percent shooting clip overall.
From a one-point game, Berliner used a quick 6-0 run in the last three minutes that provided them enough breathing room in the end. A Tolentino three-pointer with 1:56 remaining in the fourth quarter gave Berliner a 90-83 advantage.
Caron tried to convert as much as they could in the succeeding possessions but they ran out of time. Kervin Lucente’s 24 points and 15 rebounds were not enough to give his team the win.
Despite the loss, Caron still had a ton of support from their bench. The trio of Errol Bongay, Erick Ramirez, and Francis Claverol gave their team a huge lift by combining for 44 points.
