Mandaue hands Danao first loss, jacks up quarterfinal chances

CEBU, Philippines — Team Mandaue crushed the previously undefeated Danao, 70-56, to bloster its quarterfinal chances in North Division Bracket 1 of the 2nd Cebu Governor's Cup Inter-Cities and Municipalities Under-21 Developmental Basketball Tournament at the Compostela Sports Complex last Sunday evening.

Meanwhile, host Compostela upended Cordova, 74-61, in the main game.

Jun Wilmar Isok fired two triples of his eight points to set up the offensive tone as Mandaue raced to a blistering 27-16 start.

Tension flared in the second half that resulted to the ejection of two Danao players in Rusty Aguilar and Ralph Laurence Nadela at the 4:20 mark of the third and at the 3:54 mark of the fourth period, respectively.

That proved too costly for Danao as it broke its momentum after pulling with just seven points, 44-51, heading into the final 12-minute zone of the contest.

Without Aguilar and Nadela, Danao's offense was in complete disarray the rest of the way, allowing Mandaue to come up with a 14-point romp.

The loss puts Danao in a must-win situation against bracket leader Consolacion (4-0) as of this writing last night. If Danao falls, then it would give Mandaue a free ride into the next stage of the tournament.

Jared Michael Espina and Hansel James Camacho paced Mandaue with scored 12 points each, while Isok chipped in 11 markers as they improved to 3-1 in a tie with its victim.

Argie Capul was the lone twin-digit scorer with 10 points for Danao, which saw its three-game winning run come to a sudden red stop. (FREEMAN)