Games Today: Luke (1*) vs Matthew (4) John (2*) vs Mark (3) *Twice to beat advantage Matthew forces rubber match against Luke GBBC, March 22, 2022. Matthew’s quest for greatness was evident as their balanced effort forced a do-or-die game for a spot in the 1st PBA finals. Luke was in a roll heading into the playoffs. After clinching the first seed of the tournament with back to back wins, their reward was a twice to beat advantage and a semifinal matchup against a hungry Matthew squad. Matthew was revitalized with the addition of high scoring forward Aaron Roblo during the first round. While they never found consistency in the entirety of the tournament, winning their 2nd round matchup against Luke gives them the confidence heading into a win or go home situation. The veteran teams started the game with a traditional back and forth affair. As both teams were trying to establish their footing in the game, Matthew was saddled as the tournament’s leading scorer, Roblo, was not getting his usual touches. Luke wasted no time employing playoff defense limiting the easy touches he usually gets. Both teams went immediately with their big guns to provide scoring. Matthew held a small lead, 25-21, heading into the 2nd half. Only 5 players from both teams scored in the half. Luke’s captain and superstar Mario Gayeta picked up where he left off last game, scoring 17 of his team’s 21. Guard Lloyd Duga-duga and center John Paul Caramoan contributed 1 basket each for the red team. On the other side, Roblo scored 16 which was subpar in his own standard. The Tank Vic Lardizabal scores 9 to back up the green team. The second half carried the same theme as Matthew kept the precarious lead while Luke stayed on the hunt to steal the game. Both offenses struggled uncharacteristically. Tough defense reigned as both teams showed physicality in an ode to the playoff atmosphere. However, the 2nd half of this game was all about the role players and who can provide enough supplementary punch to aid their superstars. Matthew was able to rely on their role players to claim the victory, 60-53, forcing another game to claim a finals ticket. Luke struggled as no one outside of their 1-2 punch and big man scored altogether. Gayeta was steady as expected, scoring 18 in the second half to finish with 35 big points for his team. Spitfire guard Duga-duga struggled to find his rhythm as he was only able to chuck up two 3-pointers in the game en route to 10 points. Caramoan added 8 points. We can expect Luke to regroup and bounce back on the do-or-die game next week. Matthew’s 1-2 punch of Roblo and Lardizabal scored only 13 points in the 2nd half. Roblo finished with a measly 25 points which was a little off than his average of 34 PPG for the tournament. The Tank finished with 13 points for the green team. However, the role players came up big as 3 players scored a combined 22 points in the 2nd half to fend off Luke’s threat of a comeback. Honorio Gayeta scored 10 points while Lunie Sebial and forward Jeff Alquizar contributed 8 and 4 respectively. The win by Matthew sets up a winner take all next game for a chance to compete for the championship of the 1st PBA tournament. Scores: 25-21, 60-53 Matthew 60 - 25 Aaron Roblo, 13 Vic Lardizabal, 10 Honorio Gayeta, 8 Lunie Sebial, 4 Jeff Alquizar, 0 Kyle Lardizabal, 0 Jun Adille Luke 53 - 35 Mario Gayeta, 10 Lloyd Duga-duga, 8 John Paul Caramoan, 0 Bay Gayeta, 0 Romel Galara, 0 Gabriel Tanyag, 0 Mariano Gayeta, 0 PJ Gayeta, 0 Ben Gayeta John punches first ticket to the finals through Apollos Aguinaldo’s game winning 3-pointer GBBC, March 22, 2022. A breakout game from sweet shooting guard Apollos Aguinaldo proves to be the difference as his booming triple with 9 seconds remaining sends John to the 1st PBA finals. John had a roller coaster season. After winning their first 3 games, they fell off quickly and lost their next 3 games to finish the season in 2nd place with a twice to beat advantage. Mark had a promising season but was marred by inability to strongly finish close games. Both young teams ended up with a 3-3 win-loss record to close the season. They are evenly matched as exemplified by their 2nd round matchup, a game of the year candidate, decided by only a single point via 2 heart wrenching free throws by Quisimundo. Will we see the same intensity in this semifinal matchup? John had the pedal to the metal to start the game jumping to an early lead. Mark was immediately thrown in an unfamiliar situation as they are the team who typically start the games strong. An early 3 point lead from John was quickly erased as Mr. Consistent Ponciano Tan went to work early. The first half was as close as it gets as John is led by early aggressive drives by shifty guard Raph Pacheco and inside stabs by superstar AC Gonzales. Late in the half, Mark took the driver seat with their suffocating defense and efficient offense. They closed the first half on a big run to carry a 34-27 lead. Tan and Gonzales both scored 15 points for their respective teams. Pacheco seconded Gonzales with 8 for John. Gotonero also started off strong with 8 points for the orange team. Center Ezekiel Aguinaldo added 4 points along with a multitude of rebounds as he took advantage of the absence of John’s big man Rey Malupa who was a late scratch in the game. The second half told a different story as John quickly turned the tide against Mark. They began to amp up their defense, closing the driving lanes and forcing tougher shots for Mark's offensive guns. They took advantage of their quickness as they out hustled Mark in stretches of the game. Newly wed forward Orly Malupa began to be aggressive as he attacked the defense inside while nursing a finger and left hand injury. Pacheco was steady as his shots were also falling in. After a scoreless 1st half, shooting guard Apollos Aguinaldo came alive as he provided the floor spacing John desperately needed. He scored on 2 quick baskets from the right wing that proved to be the confidence builder for the streaky shooter. After consecutive misses from Mark, John quickly found an open Aguinaldo who took advantage and hit 2 back breaking 3 pointers from the top of the key. The offensive outburst ballooned the lead to 10 points for John. A technical difficulty stopped the action momentarily with John leading by 7 points, 54-47, with 5 minutes remaining in the game. The time off was instrumental for both teams as they gained some rest for an exciting end game. Off the tme out, Tan quickly went to work and scored on consecutive points. This unleashed a huge run from Mark threatening to steal the game away. However during this run, big man Aguinaldo fouled out for Mark after a pocket pass by Ryan Malupa to Orly Malupa in the left wing resulted in a foul call. With momentum still on their side, Tan teamed up with Gotonero and Quisimundo to forge one last push. The huge run was capped off by a huge 3 pointer by Tan from the right corner, catching the final foul of Pacheco in the process. Tan missed the free throw however but tied the game at 60 a piece with less than 2 minutes remaining. John went to their superstar as Gonzales scored important baskets down the stretch. Tan was too much to handle though as he answered with his own baskets retaking the lead for Mark, 66-64, with less than 20 seconds remaining. Against a dwindling shot clock and a possible loss of their twice to beat advantage, John went with the hot shooting hand of Aguinaldo who generated a step back at the top of the key to score a huge 3 pointer with 9 seconds remaining. John retook the lead once again, 67-66. Off a blocked shot and 4 seconds of game clock to work with, Mark went to Gotonero as he drove into 2 defenders on the left wing and fished a foul with 0.8 seconds remaining. He has 2 free throws to win the game. Sounds like a deja vu from their February 22 encounter but this time with different actors. Gotonero missed the first free throw much to the delight of John. With a chance to still send the game to overtime, he muffed the second pressure-packed free throw as well, effectively sending John to the first finals seat of the 1st PBA finals. Tan finished with 29 points off a valiant effort for Mark. Gotonero came up big with 15 points to aid Mark’s cause. Big man Aguinaldo dominated the painted area with 12 points. Gonzales finished with a subpar 21 points but gained a lot of help from his teammates. Pacheco added 16 before fouling out. Forward Orly Malupa scored 13 and was huge in the 2nd half. The night belongs to shooting guard Apollos Aguinaldo who had a breakout game of 13 points with three 3 pointers. This is the first time he scored in double digits since the very first game of the season but it couldn’t come up in a better time, nonetheless. Mark would still have a chance to place 3rd as they await the result of the other series. John will now be waiting for their opponent in the finals. Scores: 27-34, 67-66 John 67 - 21 AC Gonzales, 16 Raph Pacheco, 13 Orly Malupa, 13 Apollos Aguinaldo, 4 Ryan Malupa, 0 Kevin Sanchez, 0 Jenzhel Sanchez, 0 Jolo Aguinaldo Mark 66 - 29 Ponciano Tan, 15 Marlito Gotonero, 12 Ezekiel Aguinaldo, 8 Axcel Quisimundo, 2 Gerald Gabriel, 0 Joey Aguinaldo, 0 Jake Pagatpat Playoffs Day 1 fallout
Luke will need to shake off their loss as they battle Matthew one more time for a chance to reach the finals. Mark prepares for the battle for 3rd playoff series against the team on the losing end of next week’s game. John is now waiting in the finals. The next game will be played on March 29, 2022 at GBBC. Games start at 7 PM every Tuesday. /written by: Kevin Sanchez /photos by: Chloe Aguinaldo
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