Cebu City Sharks slump to third straight loss in MPBL

Bringing in a new coach didn’t work any wonders for the Cebu City Sharks.

Still groping for form, the Sharks found the Basilan Steel too hard to bite on the way to suffer their third straight loss, 76-86, in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) Datu Cup on Thursday night at the Strike Gymnasium in Bacoor City, Cavite.

After dropping back-to-back games against the Bacoor Strikers and the Parañaque Patriots, the Sharks sent coach Gilbert Castillo out and replaced him with Titing Manalili.

Inspite of that, the International Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (IPI)-backed franchise couldn’t still pick up that elusive win in the regionalized community-based league founded by boxing super star Manny Pacquiao.

The Sharks saw themselves in a 14-point hole at halftime, 31-45, and they couldn’t get any closer than four points, 70-74, on a 3-pointer by Rhaffy Oktobre with 3:36 left to play.

This as the Steel closed the match with a 12-6 bang to clinch their breakthrough triumph in MPBL after two failed attempts.

Former USJ-R Jaguar Ferdinand Dennis Daa showed the way for the Steel with 25 points on top of nine boards.

Clark Bautista chipped in 17 markers, while Macky Acosta and Jojo Tangkay finished with 25 combined points for the Basileños, who outpointed Cebu in bench scoring, 54-41.

Patrick Cabahug paced the Sharks with 17 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. Oktobre and William McAloney each scored 14, while Harold Cortes had 10 points in a losing cause.—