Jhan Mchale Nermal had 23 points in a losing effort for Bacoor Strikers. Photo courtesy of Bacoor City Strikers
Bacoor eyes fightback
DESPITE the efforts of James Kwekuteye and Jhan Mchale Nermal, top seed Bacoor City Strikers came up short at the start of their playoff series against No. 8 Iloilo United Royals, 86-89, in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) Fifth Season playoffs at the Strike Gymnasium on Saturday.
Kwekuteye and Nermal scored a total of 46 points, but Bacoor couldn’t secure the victory against Iloilo.
Kwekuteye finished with 23 points on 9-of-19 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds, while Nermal contributed 23 points in the Strikers’ setback to the United Royals in the opener of their best-of-three series.
Bacoor coach Alex Angeles is now hoping for a bounce-back victory on Oct. 14 at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena City to keep their season alive.
“Ganyan talaga sa basketball. Kahit sa ibang professional leagues, nangyayari yung ganyang malaki ang lamang pero nahahabol at natatalo. Pero naniniwala kami na may plano ang panginoon sa nangyari samin,” said Angeles.
“Nakita nyo naman breaks of the game na din talaga yun game-winning three-point basket ni CJ Catapusan with less than five seconds on the clock,” explained Angeles.
Bacoor, which emerged as the top team in the eliminations, established a commanding 23-point lead, 60-37, at the start of the third period.
But Iloilo staged two long scoring runs — 15-5 run to cut the deficit to 11 points at 52-63 and 11-0 run to tie the game at 63-63.
Nermal broke the tie with a three-pointer and put Bacoor back in the lead, 66-63. However, Joshua Flores and Omar Larupay struck back for 69-66 at the end of third period.
Yvan Ludovice and Chito Jaime added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Lorenzo Navarro led Iloilo with a double-double of 16 points and 14 assists, followed by Flores with 14 points and 10 rebounds, Catapusan, the hero for the United Royals, chipped in with nine points.
