Talisay Aquastars go 2-0

CEBU, Philippines —  The MJAS Zenith-Talisay City Aquastars got the jump on the KCS Computer Specialist-Mandaue City and never looked back, authoring a 77-57 beatdown in the 2021 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup at the Alcantara Civic Center in Alcantara, Cebu.

Athletic forward Jaymar Gimpayan came off the bench and had a spectacular ballgame as he tallied 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting. He also grabbed 10 rebounds and had an assist and a block to help MJAS Zenith capture its second win in as many games.

Val Acuña added 12 points including a pair of three-pointers near the end of the game that put an exclamation point on the emphatic win between two contenders in the Visayas leg.

MJAS Zenith was locked in from the get-go and held KCS scoreless for the first six minutes of the game while scoring 16 of their own to set the tempo of the game. KCS was able to trim the deficit to eight, 17-25, but the Aquastars got going once again, going on a 13-3 run capped off by a steal and a bucket by homegrown player Lugie Cuyos for a 38-20 lead.

KCS got into a groove and cut MJAS Zenith’s lead to eight, 36-44, but Gimpayan came in and gave the Aquastars a boost, scoring six points late in the third to give his team a 15-point lead, 58-43, heading to the final canto.

Gimpayan then poured it on in the fourth, tallying eight in the period including a fallaway jumper that beat the shot clock buzzer and gave MJAS Zenith an even 20-point bulge, 74-54, with 1:10 to go in the lopsided match.

Al Francis Tamsi led KCS with 18 points as the team fell to 1-1. KCS shot themselves in the foot from beyond the three-point arc where they made just five of their 36 attempts.

Meanwhile, the game between ARQ Builders-Lapu Lapu City Heroes and the Siquijor Mystics yesterday

aftrenoon has been postponed because of a power interruption at the playing venue.

ARQ was leading 27-13 at halftime of the game when the power completely went out.

“We had a power interruption here in Alcantara. Though we have a generator, it could not sustain our internet which has forced us to postpone the game,” said Chief Operating Officer Rocky Chan.

Chan has also talked to both Lapu-Lapu Heroes head coach Francis Auquico, Mystics head coach Joel Palapal, and their respective team owners about this.

It was deemed that the game will be restarted on the final day of the elimination round.

The game had already been stopped once after the power went out at the midway point of the second period

ARQ-Lapu-Lapu, which was gunning for their third win in a row, got off to a fast start and led, 23-5, after the first 10 minutes of action. However, the Mystics kept the game from getting out of hand by holding the Heroes to just four points in the second period. — EBV/Vismin Super Cup Media Bureau