by Ernest Hernandez
Valenzuela gave Gerald Anderson a rude welcome to the Metro League by pummeling Marikina, 98-79, in Night 2 of the Reinforced Conference at the Valenzuela Astrodome on Tuesday night.
The Workhorse put an impressive defensive stand over the Shoelanders at home in the first half, limiting them to only 32 points, before pulling away for good in the second half.
Joco Tayongtong made 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting with four rebounds, five assists, and three steals for Valenzuela.
Gerald Anderson of Marikina (photo from Metro League Facebook)
Ford Ruaya added 15 points on 5-of-8 field goals, six rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
Marlon Basco led Marikina with 17 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists.
Anderson made quite an impression in his maiden journey in the M-League, scoring 15 points on 3-for-6 shooting from three-point range, five rebounds, five dimes, and two steals.
In the first game, Taguig survived a late push from Quezon City for a 65-59 win.
The Generals' first quarter shutdown on the Junior Capitals, in which they held their foes to just seven points, nearly came to waste as the latter fought back from 10 points down in the final 3:52 of the fourth quarter to come to within two, 59-61, with 55 seconds left.
However, Jonathan Uyloan saved the day for Taguig as he swiped the ball away from Jeff Comia, leading to an alley-oop dagger by Emmanuel Ojoula.
Ojoula finished with 15 points, 14 rebounds, and three assists for the Generals in a game they won despite committing 34 turnovers.
Comia made 19 points, nine rebounds, one assist, and seven of the Junior Capitals' 20 steals, but his late turnover sealed their fate as they never tasted the lead the entire game despite the Generals being error prone.