CEBU, Philippines - Mawin’s Kitchen of team owners Sherwin Lequit and Maia Adriatico pulled off a 75-74 squeaker over the winless RJM Power Builders to seize the solo lead with an immaculate 4-0 record in the MKBC second conference basketball tournament at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Gym in Brgy. Punta Princesa, this city.
RJM was heading for its first win but Mawin’s denied them by making their own move in the final 1:30 of the contest. It started when Matt Vallejo tied the count at 71-all and in the ensuing play, Egin Taborada gave Mawin’s the first taste of the lead with an undergoal stab, 73-71.
Vallejo’s two free throws in the final five seconds sealed the victory as that padded their lead to four, 75-71. Keith Paracueles then sank a garbage 3-pointer to peg the final count.
Vallejo topscored for Mawin’s with 26 points, while Taborada and Lemuel Paguntalan chipped in 15 and 13 points, respectively.
Paracueles finished with 19 points to lead RJM while Carlo Mendoza added 14 points.
Earlier, Emilmich defeated the hard-fighting Panthers, 64-58, to move into second place with a 3-1 win-loss card. Titing Piliotas had 15 points for Emilmich of team owner Emily Badon, while Gabriel Baclaan tossed in 14 markers.
In the other games, the Kamikaze dribblers scored a major upset over the Alan Lim-led Victor Village Residents Association (VVRA), 73-67, while Fatima defeated Team Demolish, 60-50, to snap out of its two-game slump.
The scores
First game
Mawin’s (75) - Vallejo 26, Taborada 15, Paguntalan 13, Sanding 8, Sh. Lequit 6, Lequit 6, Pineda 1
RJM (74) - Paracueles 19, C. Mendoza 14, Birondo 12,Mascardo 10, Tobis 6, Castro 4, Cabarrubisas 4, J. Mendoza 2, R. Mendoza 2, H. Castro 2
Second game
Emilmich (64) - Piliotas 15, Vinalon 13, V. Llenes 12, Ilagan 10, Iconas 4, J. Llenes 3, Janala 3, Daugdaug 2, Villarosa 2
Panthers (58) - G. Baclaan 14, D. Yray 13, A. Baclaan 10, J. Vallejo 8, Padigos 4, Virtucio 3, R. Baclaan 2, N. Yray 2, Amat 2 (FREEMAN)