By: Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The MPBL’s best expansion team is currently in the midst of their longest winning streak in the Lakas Season.
Outplaying and halting the three-game winning streak of the Caloocan Supremos, 90-63, the Iloilo United Royals played one of the most flawless performances in the 2019 MPBL Lakan Season.
Dishing out a staggering 22 assists total, the United Royals’ brand of basketball was in full control of the match.
The fluid ball movement resulted to open looks, and it was nothing but pure bliss for Iloilo’s orchestrators, coach Nash Racela and head coach Eric Gonzales.
Caloocan even led 38-37 at the half, but the Iloilo squad came in hot and were unconscious from the field at the start of the third, blitzing their way to a 27-10 scoring run including an 8 of 9 field goal conversion in the first five minutes.
With 12 players scoring for the United Royals compared to Caloocan’s 8, ball distribution was the main key in their impressive win against a playoff team.
The patience Iloilo had on the defensive end limited Caloocan’s shooting to only 29%.
MPBL analyst and former PBA player Christian Luanzon pointed out that Iloilo’s defense was comparable to US NCAA champs Virginia Cavaliers’ pack-line defense, where the elbows and low blocks are tightly guarded, and the post player quickly doubled to force tough shots or turnovers.
Richard Escoto played another solid game, winning another best player of the game award, chalking up 19 points and 8 boards.
“Sinusunod lang namin yung gameplan. Focus lang kami sa mga tinuturo sa amin ng coaches naming,” said Escoto.
Scores:
Iloilo – Escoto 19, Tamsi 12, Publico 10, Rodriguez 9, Jeruta 7, Arambulo 7, Racho 6, Mahari 6
Caloocan – Tongco 12, Marilao 11, Ambuldto 10, Sanga 7, Lasco 6, Gonzales 5, Mandani 5
