MANDALUYONG survived a late scare from Paranaque to zoom to its sixth straight win in the MPBL Datu Cup, 77-75, on Wednesday at the Filoil Flying V Arena.
Ray Parks set the tone for the El Tigre as he scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half to stake the rookie team to an early 13-point lead.
But the Patriots stormed back to within two after a George Allen layup and a Thomas Torres turnover, setting the stage for the cardiac finish.
Mandaluyong coach MacCuan heaved a sigh of relief when Algin Justiniani missed a wide-open three pointer at the buzzer that could've won it for the Patriots.
"We didn't play our game. It just wasn't our game," said a disappointed Cuan after the team improved to 6-1 (win-loss).
"We were complacent and we were lazy on defense. The effort wasn't there the whole game. "
JP Cauilan hit two crucial threes in the end for Mandaluyong as he finished with 12 points while Janus Lozada added 11.
Allen led the now 4-4 Patriots with 16 points while Robin Rono added 15.
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