UNO-R, Talisay City grip opponents

THE UNO-R held off Red Phoenix 83-77, while Talisay City survived Davies/WillTrade Mktg. 98-94 in the 10th TKP Memorial Basketball Cup at TTHS Po Hang Gym.

Red Phoenix ended its elimination round winless in five games but will remain to be a very dangerous team to contend with come Sunday during the crossover elimination.

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After Ariston Sillana hit a triple to cut the lead to 59-57 with 1:20 left in the third quarter, Red Phoenix was held to five points for six minutes extending to the fourth quarter as UNO-R took a 69-62 lead on a Nathaniel Salanga jumpshot.

Arnold Gono bankshot made it 76-67 lead, A Sillana layup and Jerald Abrot Triple cut the lead to four.

Allan Santander 2 feet and a Carlo Pelingon reverse layup sandwiched the free throws of Paderog cut it to 80-77 at the 1:39 mark.

But a pick a roll play by UNO-R with Salanga rolling to the basket scored on three-point play with seven secons remaining.

UNO-R took the first quarter 26-18 behind the trio of Cedric Eslabon, Tata Javillo and Joemel Paderog six points apiece.

Red Phoenix outscored UNO-R the next two quarters but UNO-R still kept the lead at 62-57.

Santander going for 10 points and Sillana with seven points, while Paderog contributed seven points, Eslabon and Parreño with six points apiece.

Joemel Paderog delivered 19 points, Cedric Eslabon and Tata Javillo chipped in 14 points each, Salanga and Gono with seven points each.

Ariston Sillana paced Red Phoenix with 15 points, Santander and Abrot with 14 points, Nestor Mioten 11 points, Ryan Gamboa eight points and Pelingon with seven points.

In Class B action two triples by Jas Guevarra gave Davies/Willtrade its biggest lead in the game at 35-18 at the 5:30 mark of the second quarter.

But Talisay City launched a 12-0 run behind its running game and midcourt traps as the quarter ended with Davies still on top at 41-36 during halftime.

An Eric Bacomo layup and Leo Magbanua three-point play gave Talisay its 1st lead at 62-58 with 3:23 left in the third quarter.

Talisay extended it to 69-62 lead but Jinggol Pagunsan scored six straight points to cut the lead to one as the quarter ended.

Benjo Ballo-Allo and Magbanua delivered 13 and 12 points, respectively while Mark Mabaquiao had 12 points and Jinggol Pagunsan with 11 points.

In the fourth a Rudcel Nonato layup and Randie Andion bank shot extended the lead of Talisay to 82-76, but a swift retaliation from Mabaquiao and Jade Soriano cut the lead to two.

Talisay answered every Davies Challenge as they did not yield the lead.

After two layups by Soriano drew Davies closer at 93-90, Magbanua and Bacomo free throws sandwiched a layup by Pagunsan, Mabaquiao scored on a putback with a minute left to cut the lead to 95-94.

An Ernesto Dormis Ft with 14.6 seconds made it a two-point lead for Talisay.

In the ensuing play Davies passing to the post was anticipated resulting in a breakaway layup by Aldrich Apuang to seal the win for Talisay.

Apuang spearheaded Talisay offense with 17, Magbanua and Ballo-Allo added 13 points apiece, Nonato had 10 and Dormis with nine.

Davies was led by the 22 points of Pagunsan, backstopped by Jas Guevarra and Mabaquiao with 16 points each Denver Casaig chipped in 11, Soriano with nine.

Games on Friday features the last day of elimination in Class A with PD888 HandyFix playing Toyota Bacolod CSAB in the curtain raiser with the winner advancing to the semis while UNO-R will meet Province of Negros Occidental in the second game.