Iloilo falls short against top-seeded San Juan

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Dubbed as “The Victors in the City of Love” clash between the two teams who won the last of MPBL’s road game in Iloilo, the San Juan Knights and the Iloilo United Royals went toe-to-toe in an action-packed inter-division showdown Thursday.

With 34 seconds left in the clock, the United Royals had the chance to go for the lead after a tremendous defensive stop that forced a 24-second violation against San Juan, but things didn’t turn well for Iloilo.

Instead, Michael Ayonayon spoiled Iloilo’s chance of a comeback after blocking Aaron Jeruta’s attempt, forcing them to foul Jhonard Clarito who sank both his shots in the charity stripe and deliver the win for the Knights, 70-67.

Iloilo had a blazing start after connecting most of their threes early on courtesy of a trigger-ready Al Francis Tamsi and star gunner Richard Escoto who jumped ahead with a 15-6 lead.

Also, Iloilo found daylight when ex-PBA big man of the Knights, Larry Rodriguez, was tossed out of the game as early as the second quarter after earning two unsportsmanlike fouls.

However, things would turn for the worse as San Juan suddenly became a different team, immediately stepped on their gas pedal and notched back the lead from Iloilo, 31-29.

The damage deepened when Clarito of San Juan caught fire and was unstoppable, proving to be Iloilo’s worst nightmare as he tallied 22 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 4 steals in their win.

Iloilo began to answer every San Juan basket during the third but it was until the fourth that things went interesting.

The breaks of the game then went to the MPBL defending champions and survived a tough and resilient Iloilo squad.

 

Scores:

San Juan – Clarito 22, Wilson 12, Wamar 12, Ayonayon 11, Aquino 8, Rodriguez 4

Iloilo – Publico 17, Escoto 13, Tamsi 10, Prado 7, Jaboneta 4, Arambulo 4