GENERAL SANTOS City ,Philippines – The MP Warriors of GenSan avoided complications and booked a championship appearance by smashing Cebu Landmasters RDAK, 90-70, at the close of preliminary play of the SMC Liga Pilipinas Conference V General Santos City Leg at the GMP Sports Complex Friday.
The Warriors of Rep. Manny Pacquiao will play Mandaue again for the weekly title.
Down by eight at the half, the Warriors behind guard Louie Medalla unleashed a crushing 17-0 run highlighted by torrid outside shooting that turned the game in their favor for good. The Warriors actually outscored Mandaue in the second half, 60-32.
Medalla finished with a conference-best 29 points from five triples. Jonathan Parreno added three more triples en route to 11 markers as the Warriors of coach Arvin Bonleon made a total of 12 out of 27 from beyond the arc.
Axel Doruelo and Mario Basco led Mandaue with nine points each, marking only the team’s second loss in the conference supported by San Miguel, Molten, Summit Natural Drinking Water and Accel.
Mandaue of Joe Soberano, Rick King and coach Jun Tan have already won legs in the cities of Cebu and Mandaue this conference.
This marks the second time the Warriors are vying for a weekly championship since losing to the Quezon Red Oilers, 71-82, in the Taguig City Leg of Conference II way back in 2009.
In the first game, the Ilocos Sur CS Tigers of Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson and coach Johnedel Cardel did their part by trouncing the Laguna Golden Lions, 76-67, and then hoped for a loss by the Warriors to force a three-way tie for the second finals berth at 1-2.
The CS Tigers held the better FIBA quotient of 1.027 compared to the 0.993 and 0.979 for the Lions, respectively. That could have meant a date with Mandaue for the title.
Chito Jaime clicked at the right time with 23 points and six rebounds. Jeff Sanders and Raymond Aguilar supported him with nine markers each and a combined 13 boards.
Robert Sanz paced the Golden Lions of Gov. ER Ejercito and coach Philip Cezar with 16 points and nine rebounds followed by Bryan Faundo with 13 points and 16 rebounds.