DAVAO Occidental-Cocolife leaned on Emman Calo's heroics to gut out an 85-83 escape over Marikina, Monday in the 2019-20 Chooks-to-Go MPBL Lakan Season at the San Andres Sports Complex in Manila.
Trailing by five with 1:17 left after back-to-back triples by Von Tambeling and Yves Sazon, Davao Occidental came back with a 6-0 counter courtesy of Mark Yee and Yvan Ludovice, 82-81.
Then Tambeling took matters into his own hands, driving to the hoop off an isolation play to put Marikina back ahead, 83-82.
And with 8.82 seconds left, Calo drained a desperation trey off an offensive rebound to give Davao Occidental a two-point lead, 85-83.
With one final chance to tie or win the game, Sazon took a corner triple but Calo blocked the attempt to ice the victory.
"That was a prayer shot that got answered," said Tigers head coach Don Dulay on Calo's game-winner.
Joseph Terso drained 13 points while Ludovice, Yee, and Calo had 11 apiece.
Davao will enter the post-season as the top seed with a 26-4 slate.
Tambeling exploded with 32 points on an 8-of-12 shooting clip from deep while Sazon and Ato Ular tallied double-doubles in points and rebounds with 23-11 and 18-12, respectively.
The Shoemasters fell to 7-22.
The Scores:
Davao Occidental-Cocolife 85 - Terso 13, Yee 11, Ludovice 11, Calo 11, Mocon 6, Robles 6, Raymundo 6, Bonleon 6, Albo 5, Balagtas 5, Gaco 3, Custodio 2.
Marikina 83 - Tambeling 32, Sazon 23, Ular 18, Española 4, Fortuno 2, Mendoza 2, Cadoma 2, Gines 0, Ybanez 0, Dysam 0, Padua 0, Pascual 0, Casajeros 0.
Quarterscores: 18-15, 38-38, 57-60, 85-83.
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