VICTORIA Sports-Manuel L. Quezon University got itself a silver lining after turning back Blustar Detergent, 85-76, to wrap its Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League Aspirants’ Cup on Tuesday at the JCSGO Gym in Cubao.
Fighting for pride, Victoria banked on Robbie Herndon, who scored 19 points and pulled down 13 rebounds, in snapping a three-game losing skid and finish the conference with a 2-7 won-lost record.
“I told the players to have a graceful exit. Even though our opponents are winless, we just can’t take them lightly,” Victoria Coach Jinino Manansala said.
Michael Ayonayon chipped in 14 points and 10 rebounds, Ryusei Koga added 11 points and four assists, and Jayson Grimaldo had 10 points and nine rebounds for Victoria.
Already eliminated from the playoff race, Victoria stamped its class over the Dragons, slowly pulling away before establishing a 17-point edge, 65-48, with eight minutes remaining in the game.
Despite the exit, Manansala can take pride knowing that his players made the most of their experience.
“This was really a good experience for us. It’s difficult to accept defeat, but the experience we got is incomparable,” he said.
Tristan Perez wound up with 19 points and nine rebounds for Blustar, which went winless in its nine games this conference.