NINE down, one to go for Talisay City-MJAS Zenith.

Led by Jaymar Gimpayan and handled by coach Aldrin Morante, Talisay-MJAS Aquastars brought down Dumaguete Warriors, 77-66, to move within a game of completing a rare two-round sweep of the eliminations in the 2021 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas Vis-Min Super Cup basketball championships at the Alcantara Sports and Civic Center in Cebu Province.

Gimpayan struck hardest for Talisay-MJAS, finishing with a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds despite the best effort of Dumaguete in this six-team tournament sponsored by Chooks-to-Go and sanctioned by the Games and Amusements Board (GAB).

Impressive as it was, Morante said he is still not thinking of completing a sweep.

“Hindi namin iniisip yung sweep. One game at a time pa rin yung approach namin,” said Morante.

“But I’d like to commend everyone for this win. Team effort talaga. Again, no one played more than 20 minutes. Malaking bagay yung fresh legs para sa amin since ang next game namin is KCS na kumpleto na on Thursday,” added Morante.

Dumaguete, which paraded a new coach in Leode Garcia, looked rejuvenated and kept in step with the league-leaders, down by just three, 13-16, after the first period of action.

However, Talisay took their game to the next level and unleashed a vicious 18-3 run triggered by Egie Boy Mojica, Darrell Menina, and Allan Santos to open up as many as 18-point lead, 34-16.

The Aquastars raised their lead to a high of 29 before allowing the Warriors to narrow the gap to what it was in the end.

Equally impressive was Mandaue City-KCS Computer Specialist , which demolished Tubigon Bohol, 80-50, to assure itself of a semis berth. to make it to the semifinals.

The scores:

First game
KCS-Mandaue (80)–Imperial 15, Delator 13, Solera 10, Octobre 9, Castro 8, Roncal 8, Bongaciso 7, Mendoza 5, Mercader 3, Cachuela 2, Soliva 0.
Tubigon Bohol (50) — Llagas 18, Marquez 12, Ibarra 7, Cabizares 5, Dadjilul 3, Tangunan 2, Musngi 2, Casera 1, Tilos 0, Leonida 0.
Quarterscores: 22-15, 39-24, 56-32, 80-50.

Second game
MJAS-Talisay (77) –Gimpayan 14, Eguilos 11, Cabahug 9, dela Cerna 8, Jamon 7, Santos 6, Villafranca 6, Mojica 5, Mabigat 3, Acuña 3, Casajeros 2, Menina 2, Hubalde 1, Ugsang 0, Cuyos 0.
Dumaguete (66)– Roy 17, Regalado 9, Doligon 9, Mantilla 8, Tomilloso 8, Velasquez 7, Ramirez 3, Aguilar 3, Gabas 2, Gonzalgo 0, Porlares 0.
Quarterscores: 16-13, 36-23, 64-38, 77-66.