CMO takes Game 2, evens series

AFP-PNP FINALS

CMO takes Game 2, evens series


A rejuvenated CMO squad made sure there would be no awarding ceremonies last Saturday, much less one that would crown their rivals from the PNP Regional Office XI as champions. To make that happen, they played like a champion and finished like a champion.

And so it will now boil down to one final battle in Game 3. No more tomorrows, no more awarding postponements. It’s either you or me for the Mayor’s Men and PRO XI in the deciding game of the Mayor Rody and IndaySara 7th AFP-PNP basketball tournament best-of-three finals.

Game 2 ended with CMO staying alive with a 99-88 win and will take a psychological edge going into the winner-take-all Game 3 on Thursday morning (10:00 a.m.) at the Almendras Gym.

Christopher “Bong” Go managed to wiggle out of the suffocating defense of the PNP men and rain 4 trifectas in a big second quarter uprising that quelled a major rally by PRO XI. He had five triples in the game and a day-high 23 to bail CMO out of trouble early before going to the bench in the last 6 minutes of the final canto to allow the “Triple B” wrecking crew of Roy Bangkas, Dioven Braga and Ariel Bonleon to finish off their Catitipan-based rivals.

The troika combined for 48 points in the game while big man Mondigo added 13 to anchor a balanced CMO offensive.

“Nakaadjust dayon mi karon unlike sa Game 1. They played good defense pero nakapangandam mi karon sa ilaha ug mayo,” said CMO coach Roy Josol.

Go, hounded by his guards in the perimeter where he is a deadshot, had a hard time extricating himself early. With the leech-like guarding, he failed to score in the first period but found his range in the second to keep the PNP men at bay.

Delos Reyes fired 21, Palomares added 18 and Simbulas had 15 in a losing effort. (NJB-City Sports)