By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
There will be a win-or-go-home deciding Game 3.
After falling short of clinching Game 1 by giving up their lead, the mighty Roxas D team shot the lights out and redeemed themselves in Game 2 and crushed Roxas B, 92-72, in the ongoing 2022 On D’ Move (ODM) Sports League Capiz Inter-Town finals.
Roxas D made quick adjustments following their Game 1 loss and opted to deploy their more athletic forwards to match the size of the towering Roxas B team.
John Vincent Ayo, who barely played during Game 1, gave back the trust of their head coach after providing the much-needed lift and paint scoring for Roxas D.
The athletic forward came in hot and cashed in every drop-off pass Roxas D guards fed to him and also grabbed the loose balls and defensive rebounds.
Mon Lustria’s resurgence was also a key factor for Roxas D’s second-half scoring avalanche and was hot from downtown to finish with 27 points, six rebounds, and two steals and was also named the best player of the game.
Lustria was waxing-hot in the first quarter and immediately drained three treys and converted a layup to give Roxas D a 20-13 lead.
Aside from Lustria’s offensive show, Jesan Dela Cruz also came up big and backstopped him in the scoring department to help balloon Roxas D’s lead to 46-31 heading into the second half.
However, Roxas B retaliated in the third quarter and spearheaded a comeback led by Junfrirz Anonoy who dazzled the crowd with his acrobatic layups and on-point three-point shooting.
The once 15-point lead for Roxas D was cut to 3, 53-50, midway in the third quarter but an unfortunate turn of events cooled Roxas B’s offense down.
John Michael Mallari, Roxas B’s defensive guard, was called for his second unsportsmanlike foul and was thrown out of the game which led to another Roxas D offensive explosion.
Lustria continued to torch Roxas B and sank several dagger shots including a crucial personal 10-0 run built from two triples and two layups.
With the win, Roxas D set up a deciding Game 3 against Roxas B this Saturday, to be held in the Dinggoy Roxas Civic Center at 7:00 PM.
