Jayvee Marcelino won’t stay under the shadows of his twin brother Jaycee forever.
After witnessing Jaycee lift the Most Valuable Player trophy of the OKBet-Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League 4th Season Friday night, Marcelino stole the thunder as he powered Zamboanga to a 75-65 win over Nueva Ecija in Game 3 of their best-of-five finals series late Friday at the Mayr Vitaliano Agan Coliseum in Zamboanga City.
Marcelino fired 22 points, seven rebounds and three assists to bring their playoff series to 2-1 after the Rice Vanguards prevailed in the first two matches.
Jaycee, for his part, was held to only nine points, but provided a major impact in other departments as he registered 10 rebounds, nine assists and four steals.
Ralph Tansingco also provided scoring support with five three-pointers for 15 points while Chris Dumapig contributed 10 points and nine rebounds to keep Zamboanga’s flickering title chances alive.
Nueva Ecija, which pulled off an 81-75 win in Game 1 and 75-74 triumph in Game 2, drew 15 points and eight rebounds from Michael Mabulac and 14 points and five rebounds from John Bryon Villarias.
Hesed Gabo, the hero of Game 1, was held scoreless as no other Nueva Ecija stalwart ended in double figures.
Starring Marcelino and Tansingco, Zamboanga took a 38-28 lead at halftime and led by as many as 48-32 before Nueva Ecija struck back with a nine-point cluster.
Jaycee, a former Lyceum of the Philippines University star, was awarded the MVP trophy by MPBL commissioner Kenneth Duremdes before the game apart from a Suzuki Avenis courtesy of Suzuki Mindanao Regional Sales Manager Joel Martin.
The 5-foot-9 guard posted averages of 17 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.65 steals through Game 2.
Game 4 will be held at the same venue on 12 December with Zamboanga seeking to equalize and Nueva Ecija aiming to seal the series.
