Davao Occidental—The Cocolife Tigers continued to roar as they extended their winning streak to eight after stopping the Navotas Clutch, 72-59, in the elimination round of the 2018 Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League South Division of the Datu Cup Saturday night at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.
PBA veteran Leo Najorda led all scorers, showing off his offensive might throughout the game and pouring in 17 points to go with 6 rebounds and 2 assists to help the Mindanao team of Claudine Bautista of Davao Occidental LGU, backed by Cocolife president Elmo Nobleza, FVP Joseph Ronquillo and AVP Rowena Asnan, stay on top of South Division with a 9-3 record.
Ilonggo superstar Billy Robles and journeyman Bonbon Custodio added 10 apiece for the Tigers for their eighth consecutive win since absorbing three straight setbacks after an opening victory in the league organized Senator Manny Pacquiao.
With their fluid offense, Davao Cocolife Tigers’ coach Don Dulay unveiled the team’s sticky defensive clamp, led by ex-pro Mark Yee to stop the Clutch’s rally in the third as they stretched their streak in dominating fashion.
“Defense made the big difference. We limited them (the Clutch) to only 30% field goal shooting. We also outrebounded them, 49-36, while got more points inside the paint,” Tigers’ coach Dulay said.
Navotas fell deeper to 7th to 8th place with a 5-8 record to show.
The Davao-Cocolife Tigers will next face the Zamboanga Valientes (5-7) on Nov. 20 at the Valenzuela Astrodome.
Meanwhile, the MPBL has decided to open a one-week trading period for teams still wanting to tinker with their respective lineups in time for the playoffs.
This was approved following a meeting presided by league founder Senator Manny Pacquiao and MPBL Commissioner Kenneth Duremdes.
Starting today until next Sunday, teams can now make trade transactions.