DEFENDING champion Talisay City Aquastars channeled a never-say-die spirit to draw first blood in the best-of-three championship series of the 2019 Governor’s Cup Inter-Cities/Municipalities Basketball Tournament. The Aquastars suddenly erupted in the fourth quarter to stun the Mandaue City Ballers, 81-76, in Game 1 before a jam-packed crowd at the Talisay City Sports Complex on Friday, May 3. “The biggest factor was our defense. Plus we just got lucky in the final quarter,” Talisay City head coach Michael Guerra said in Cebuano after the game. It was indeed a display of defensive prowess and a little bit of luck for Talisay City, which trailed Mandaue City in all but the last six minutes of play. Talisay City was even down by as much as 15 points in the early going of the second half before trimming the gap to five, 64-59, at the end of the third period. The Aquastars then unleashed a backbreaking 14-2 blitz in the payoff period anchored on Jay Deiparine, Jhaylord Castro and Clark Louis Ruedas to turn the five-point deficit to a 73-66 lead. Mandaue City was held scoreless for more than five minutes before Jhun Art Marco stopped the bleeding with a two-pointer at the 4:40 mark. Gabriel George Cometa hit a jumper after teammate Paul John Sungahid split his free throws and Mandaue City trimmed the gap to four points. But Talisay City was quick to recover as Kendrick Abarquez scored a two-pointer and Deiparine drilled a dagger trey with 2:08 left to play. Mandaue City’s Cometa, Sungahid and Jun Wilmar Isok connived for a mini 6-1 run to get close to 79-75 with 41.7 ticks left. Sungahid even had the chance to bring down the deficit but he missed both charities with 32.7 to play. Keaton Clyde Taburnal hit a booming trey on the other end to secure the win. Deiparine scored 19 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists for Talisay City, while Ruedas was equally impressive with 16 points, eight rebounds, two steals and one assist. Kendrick Abarquez had an all-around game of 10 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Tabural came four assists shy of a triple double with 13 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. “We switched to 1-2-2 defense from man to man. That was the key for us,” said Guerra, adding that the top priority of the defense was to limit Cometa. Mandaue City’s court general Cometa was held scoreless in the opening quarter, when he was slapped with an unsportmanlike foul for second motion after pesky defender Ronan Briones fouled him. Cometa finished with 22 points, 13 scored in the second quarter. Lemuel Jake Gonzaga had 12, Archie Buscay pitched in 11 and Sungahid contributed 10. “We are going to make adjustments for Game 2 because their big man will be back,” said Guerra, referring to Mandaue City’s key slotman Kenneth Brillo, who missed the series opener due to a one-game suspension. Mandaue City had a fiery start, silencing the crowd with a 13-4 run. Sungahid stretched the lead to 21-8 with a beautiful drive to the basket before Deiparine hit a buzzer-beater three-pointer to end the opening quarter at 21-15. The Ballers erected the lead to double figures, 30-20, for the first time after Cometa hit a mid-range jumper at 7:42 in the second quarter. Mandaue City had a 46-34 lead at the half before it grew to a 15-point edge at the early part of the third quarter. Talisay City finished the third quarter with a 5-0 burst to start the payoff period trailing only by five points, 64-59. Guerra credited the “sixth man” on the come-from-behind win. “I don’t know if we would have won this game without the crowd. The crowd was really a big factor for us tonight. The crowd somehow pressured the visiting team,” he said. Game 2 will shift to the Mandaue City Sports and Cultural Complex on May 9.