SUBIC -- Defending champion San Juan-Go for Gold showed no mercy against the extremely short-handed Makati-Super Crunch, racking up a 131-54 rout, to advance to the 2021 Chooks-to-Go Lakan National Finals, Wednesday at the Subic Bay Gymnasium here.
Only five homegrown players from Makati - namely David Carlos, Edwin Asoro, Bhabap Sta. Maria, Carlo Lloren, and Kako Morales - made the bubble as issues with the management prevented other players from joining.
San Juan opened the game with a 15-0 start and never looked back. Bhabap Sta. Maria gave Makati its first basket at the 5:39 mark of the game. San Juan limited Makati to just six points in the second frame that led to a 64-17 halftime lead.
Ced Pelayo's three pointer at the 4:38 mark of the fourth quarter gave San Juan its biggest lead of the match at 78, 119-41.
Mike Ayonayon tallied his first triple-double in his MPBL career with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists to lead the Knights.
San Juan main man John Wilson topscored with 22 markers on a very efficient 9-of-11 shooting clip, while Jhonard Clarito got 20 points and 13 boards in just 16 minutes.
Outlet passes were a friend of the Knights as they converted 51 fastbreak points while Makati only had seven. They also made a whopping 48 assists in 58 made field goals.
The 77-point win by San Juan was a new league record, surpassing the 53-point win of Bacoor against Parañaque on August 27, 2019.
Edwin Asoro led the shorthanded Super Crunch with 21 points while Sta. Maria chipped in 14 markers.
San Juan awaits the winner of the Davao Occidental-Basilan knockout match which is set to take place on March 17 if the Steel net a negative RT-PCR test result.
The scores:
San Juan 131 -- Wilson 22, Clarito 20, Wamar 14, Ayonayon 10, Gabawan 9, Pelayo 9, Rodriguez 8, Buñag 8, Ubalde 8, Aquino 6, Isit 5, Reyes 4, Marquez 4, Tajonera 2, Estrella 2.
Makati 54 -- Asoro 21, Sta. Maria 14, Carlos 9, Morales 6, Lloren 4
Quarterscores: 38-11, 64-17, 94-36, 131-54.