Negros A'sinderos took a 100-90 win away at Pasig City in the Philippine Basketball League on Wednesday. The result keeps the visitors in 14th place with just two victories from 17 games, while the hosts remain fifth on nine wins. By then you'd expect the home side to lean on their recent form, but this was a different story entirely.
Pasig had been building momentum before this fixture. They'd won their last game against Bulacan Kuys 105-100, and had also edged Valencia Darkhorses 102-100 at home. The visitors, meanwhile, were on a run of five straight defeats — 96-120 to San Juan Knights, 89-101 to Ilagan Cowboys, and losses to Cebu Greats and Bataan Risers among them.
And here's the thing about basketball away from the camera's eye: you don't need every possession to understand how a game went. The scoreline tells you Negros found their rhythm when it mattered. Pasig couldn't keep pace when the visitors started closing in on a lead they'd later hold to the final whistle.
The statistics on paper don't lie either. Pasig sit on nine wins from 16 matches — a winning percentage that suggests a mid-table side. Negros' two victories from 17 games places them firmly in the basement, and this result doesn't move them up an inch. To be fair, the gap between fifth and fourteenth speaks for itself.
What matters now is the table. Pasig stay fifth, still hovering above the cut-off zone. Negros remain 14th with zero points separating them from the teams below — though in this league, zero points means zero games played in overtime, not a lack of competitiveness. The visitors will look to turn things around after the break in their next fixture.