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MisOr used a strong finishing kick to down the Agilas-Goldstar, 92-84 and take Game 1 of the Mindanao Division Semifinals of the 2007 Mindanao Visayas Basketball Association (MVBA) Second Conference Monday night at the Davao City Recreation Center.
The wards of Governor Oscar Moreno went on a scoring binge in the dying minutes powered by Anton Villoria and Lowell Briones to pull away with the win and take one step closer to the Mindanao Division finals.
Trailing by three, 71-74, MisOr exploded with 11 unanswered points capped with a three-point play from Briones who had 18 points to take a commanding lead with 3:04 left.
But it was Villoria who finished the game with 12 points that did the most damage against the Agilas, drilling in two triples in two crucial plays that kept their opponents at bay. His first triple fired off the scoring spree that gave MisOr a 76 – 74 advantage, 4:02 left. The Agilas had a pretty chance to take the series opener but just fell down the stretch. Bob Couzy Ilanga hit a three pointer from an excellent kick-out pass from John Gonzaga to take a 70- 65 lead with 8:32 remaining. But from there it was all a MisOr show. Frank Nailon topscored for MisOr with 20 markers. A day earlier, MisOr hacked a close 87-82 decision over the Agilas to close the 30-game classification round of the league sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (BAP-SBP) and made possible by ML Kwarta Padala, Nature's Spring Water, Sulpicio Lines, Accel, Cokaliong Shipping,Reva Sandals, Gameface.Ph and Nike Basketball. Coaches Bong Abad of MisOr and Rhoel Josol of the Agilas barely had 24 hours to make adjustments and it appeared that the former came out with a better game plan. The Agilas looked poised to grab the important win, leading after three periods, 67-65. Ilanga, BuboyBerami and Wynsjohn Te conspired to rally the Agilas from a 40-49 halftime deficit. Ilanga and twin towers Joel Solis and James Razon then helped maintain the lead until Villoria's killer triple came. Overall, Villoria made 10 of his 12 points in the final quarter. Game Two of the series is set for Thursday at the Xavier University Gym. Should the Agilas win and stave off extinction, the deciding Game Three will be on Friday, also at Xavier. The winner will face the waiting MP Warriors-GenSan of Manny Pacquiao for the Mindanao Division championship.
Berami equaled his 26-point effort set against M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala- Cebu City on October 11. Te finished with 13 and Razon with 12, their best efforts thus far in the league. (Rico Biliran/MindaNews)