ANDRE Caminos Cuizon showed up with his A game and lifted Aloguinsan past an undermanned but determined Malabuyoc, 119-109, for their fourth win in the Mayor Inocentes Cabaron Invitational Inter-town basketball tournament on April 20, 2024 at the Moalboal Covered Court.
At 4-1, Aloguinsan is assured of a second spot in Group A behind undefeated Dumanjug (4-1) and could even finish at No. 1 should Dumanjug suffer an unlikely and heavy loss to Badian.
Despite fielding only seven players, Malabuyoc took the initiative, leading 32-27 in the first quarter thanks to the efforts of Ericson Rubio and Joshua Soria, who combined for 20 points with Soria dropping three treys. In the second quarter, Soria single-handedly kept Malabuyoc abreast with Aloguinsan, dropping 13 points and another three treys as the undermanned Malabuyoc held on to a slim 64-61 lead.
In the third quarter, it was Joseph Velarde’s turn as he single-handedly kept them in the game, scoring 11 of his 19 points as the two fought to an 87-all standoff with a quarter to go.
But in the fourth quarter, Cuizon upped his game and toyed with the tired Malabuyoc defense as he dropped 14 points in the pivotal period for their 10-point win.
Cuizon finished with a game-high 40 points, while Rodelio Cauba had 20, including 14 in the second and Jerry Natinga added 15.
Soria had 31 for Malabuyoc including eight triples, while Velarde and Rubio had 21 and 20 respectively. Key Durango, Paul Carcedo and Eric Dinglasa also combined for 33 points as Malabuyoc kissed its semis dreams goodbye as it dropped to 1-3.
In the second game, Ronda closed out its campaign with a 59-54 win over Argao. Twins JC and JM Tejas had an impressive 30 points each with JM scoring 13 in the second and JC dropping 15 in the third. Adrian Tapere led Argao with 31 points, while Darren Dayag and Vincent Dumasig had 21 each.
At 0-3, Argao still have two chances to nail a win as it has two games left against Malabuyoc on April 27 and Badian on April 28. /ML