Batangas secures No. 4 seed in South division
JHAYMO Eguilos towed Batangas City Athletics to a 68-56 victory over CebuCasino Ethyl Alcohol to close the elimination round with a fifth straight win in the 2019-20 Chooks-to-Go MPBL Lakan Cup at the Caloocan Sports Complex Wednesday night.
The victory enabled Batangas to take fourth spot in the South division with a 19-11 win-loss record before the league takes a brief break for its all-star festivities.
Eguilos and Teytey Teodoro orchestrated a 12-5 rally to peg the final score.
"It was hard in the first half, but I told my players that we have to play like we deserve to be where we are. That's just what I told them. Don't let this slide," said Batangas coach Woody Co.
Eguilos finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
The Sharks were the last casualty in the South playoff wars, falling to a 15-15 record, a game behind eighth-seed Bicol.
Meanwhile, Yves Sazon achieved a scoring milestone in leading
Marikina past Rizal-Xentro Mall 87-86.
Sazon, who entered the game totaling 980 points, score 21 to become the second player in MPBL history to register 1,000 points.
With 2.4 seconds left in the game, Sazon rose up to tip in a miss from Ato Ular to give Marikina
the win.
"Ngayon medyo nagmamature na 'yung ibang players, so magandang sign din 'yun. Sana madala namin next season," said Marikina head coach Elvis Tolentino.
In the other games, General Santos-Burlington escaped Nueva Ecija with a 80-75 win as the Caloocan Supremos edged the Mindoro
Tamaraws 93-90.
Robby Celiz finished with 23 points, 16 rebounds for GenSan, which made it to the magic 8 in the South division with a 17-12 record.
JC Escalambre had 35 points for Caloocan, which did not make the playoffs cut despite a 16-14 record. ABS-CBN News 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting and also contributed 13 rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots. Tim Hardaway Jr. made five 3-pointers on his way to scoring 19 points, and Seth Curry added 18 for Dallas, which has a 33-22 record entering the All-Star break.
Buddy Hield posted 22 points and nine assists for the Kings, who have dropped back-to-back games after winning six of their previous eight contests.
De’Aaron Fox added 16 points, Kent Bazemore had 15 points and seven rebounds, Harry Giles III scored 11 points and Nemanja Bjelica had 10 points.
Pacers top Giannis-less Bucks, end six-game skid
T.J. Warren scored 35 points as the Indiana Pacers snapped a season-high, sixgame losing streak with a 118-111 victory over the Milwaukee
Bucks on Wednesday in Indianapolis.
Warren shot 16 of 19 from the field for the Pacers, who exploited the absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo and shot a sizzling 61.9 percent from the floor (26 of 42) in the first half.
Former Buck Malcolm Brogdon collected 17 points and 13 assists, Domantas Sabonis had 15 points and eight rebounds, and Myles Turner contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds as Indiana handed Milwaukee just its second loss in 16 games.
Donte DiVincenzo scored a team-high 19 points and Khris Middleton added 17 for the Bucks, who sustained their first loss in six games without Antetokounmpo in the lineup. The reigning NBA MVP sat out his second consecutive contest following the birth of his first child, Liam Charles.