Jose Maria College Kings. –FILOIL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Their Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup stint may not have ended the way they wanted it to but the Jose Maria College Kings will head back to Mindanao in high spirits.
The Kings, who figured in an aggregate two-game series with Far Eastern University, were entered in the stepladder quarterfinals by virtue of being the qualifier of the VisMin division.
JMC lost the series after losing huge in Game 1, 96-65, in a lopsided affair.
They would, however, end their series on a high note with only a 10-point loss against one of the UAAP’s juggernauts, 90-80.
“We learned a lot here in Manila and we’re going home happy,” coach Dodong Cagampang said. “The play here is different. If in Mindanao, we’re on top, here we are not.”
Despite not being able to match or go over the Tamaraws’ points output in the two-game series, Cagampang remained happy to see his wards execute what they have been practicing for a long time.
One of the cagers under Cagampang who lived up to the pressure was Christer Catarong, who finished with a monster double-double of 24 points and 16 rebounds in the Game 2 loss.
“Of course, we’re really happy because we did everything that we’ve been working on. Even if we lost, we’re really happy,” Cagampang added in Filipino.