THERE is no stopping the Jumbo Plastic-Basilan Peace Riders as they clobbered the JPS Zamboanga City in historic fashion, 133-67, in the 2021 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup on Sunday, July 25, 2021, at the Pagadian City Gymnasium.
Basilan’s winning margin of 66 points is the largest in league history, beating the previous record of 38 held by Talisay City. More importantly, the win allowed Basilan to tie Clarin for the top spot in the standings at 6-0 (win-loss).
Much like their previous outings, the Peace Riders did not take long to go up big as they raced off to a 33-17 lead in the first period and never looked back. From there, things just turned from bad to worse for JPS as Basilan outscored them 38-18 in the third and then, 44-18, in the fourth.
Michael Juico led Basilan in scoring as he piled up 21 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field to go with five rebounds in just 13 minutes of playing time. Chris Bitoon almost had a double-double with 15 points and eight assists, while Michael Mabulac chimed in 14 points and six rebounds.
Jerwin Gaco paced Zamboanga anew with 17 points and six rebounds, while Wang Alvarez added 10 points.
However, JPS missed the services of veteran players Gabby Espinas and Rudy Lingganay, both nursing minor injuries.
JPS finished the eliminations at 4-4, below the twice-to-beat area at fifth place. However, if one team sweeps the eliminations, Zamboanga can still have a twice-to-beat advantage come playoffs. (JNP)