The Aquastars racked its perfect run with a 99-62 triumph against  ARQ Builders Lapu Lapu on Thursday, April 29 at the Civic Center in Cebu.

With Talisay City completing as the top spot in the double round-robin elimination, the rest of the teams will now vie for the remaining title berth in a stepladder format.

In this format, the league’s second seed will advance in the semifinals with a twice-to-beat advantage while the third and sixth seeds, as well as the fourth and fifth seeds would play in the knockout games where the winners would take on one another for the spot to face the second seed in the semis. 

“Malaking bagay sa amin na makuha namin yung sweep para makapahinga kami. Siguro masasabi ko lang is all of this is because of the players. They deserve to rest,” said Aquastars head coach Aldrin Morante. 

Talisay City dominated early on with a 24-9 lead in the first frame on the back of the nine points that Patrick Cabahug made in the period.

The Aquastars then didn’t let the AQR Heroes close the gap, going only as close as 12 the rest of the way.

Talisay City then used a 30-11 run to bury Lapu-Lapu in the fourth period, which was highlighted by a pair of slam dunks from the high-leaping Jaymar Gimpayan.

Cabahug led the Aquastars with 22 points, 15 of those coming from 5 triples while Kevin Villafranca finished with 12 points, 50 rebounds, and 2 assists. 

Darrell Menina, who came off from the bench, contributed with 11 points, 4 boards, 4 dimes, and 2 steals, followed by wide-bodied big man Allan Santos and skipper Paulo Hubalde with 10 points and 6 points respectively.

The Heroes, who now has 4-5 standing with only one game in their elimination schedule, struggled to find the basket with only 31% on shooting including a paltry 4-of-22 from beyond the arc. 

Ferdinand Lusdoc led Lapu-Lapu with 12 points while Jojo Tangkay and Chris Regero chipped in 10 points apiece.

AQR Lapu-Lapu will take on Tubigon Bohol as their final game in the elimination round on April 30 at 7 in the evening. 

Below are the scores:

MJAS-Talisay (99) — Cabahug 22, Villafranca 12, Menina 11, Santos 10, Eguilos 9, Gimpayan 8, Jamon 8, Hubalde 6, Acuña 6, Mojica 5, Moralde 2, Casajeros 0, Alvarez 0, Dela Cerna.

ARQ Lapu-Lapu (62) — Lusdoc 12, Tangkay 10, Regero 10, M. Arong 5, Ochea 4, Abad 4, Senining 4, Juntilla 4, Berame 3, Galvez 2, Mondragon 2, Igot 2, Solis 0, F. Arong 0

Quarterscores: 24-9, 41-26, 69-51, 99-62