CAGAYAN Valley opened its season by bagging Moala Tautuaa at No. 1 in the Draft. But on Thursday, the Rising Suns didn’t seem to need the 6-foot-7 Filipino-American.
Michael Mabulac turned in a double-double effort and the Rising Suns repelled a late rally by MJM-Builders for a 94-86 victory on Thursday in the Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League Aspirants Cup at the Ynares Arena in Pasig City. MP Hotel shared the day’s limelight though, as it scored an 87-70 upset of Wangs Basketball in the day’s second game.
The Rising Suns seized control in the second quarter and held the Builders in check with tireless hassle and excellent ball movement.
Mabulac, who had his right hand wrapped in iced after hurting it while going for a loose ball late in the fourth quarter, registered a game-high 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for Cagayan Valley, which shot 45 percent from the field and made 11-of-18 free throws.
New recruit Alex Austria also had a big game with 13 points and six assists, while Don Trollono and Andrian Celeda added 12 points apiece for the Rising Suns, who led by as many as 16 points.
Tautuaa is still playing for the Malaysian Dragons in the Asean Basketball League. He will join the team in mid-November, according to Assistant Coach Nonoy Bonleon.
“Medyo maganda ang start. Sana magtuloy-tuloy,” Bonleon said.
The two teams were deadlocked at 31-all when Mabulac, Austria and the returning Celada keyed a 20-11 run midway the second quarter to give the Rising Suns a 51-42 lead at halftime. Mabulac had eight points, Celada seven and Austria five in that spurt. The Builders, who built the team around players from University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 77 champion National University and runner-up Far Eastern University, got off to a slow start.
They couldn’t get their game going largely due to poor execution and bad passes. They were also awful from the free-throw line, where they went 26 of 42.
Cris Tolomia turned in 15 points, while Tristan Pere and Gelo Alolino added 13 apiece for the Builders, who made the game interesting in the closing minutes.
MJM-Builders trailed by 11 points with under six minutes left but rallied behind the timely shots of Nico Javelino and Alolino to pull within 85-88 with 1:49 to play. It never got any closer after that though.