BATANGAS City Tanduay rose from the grave to force overtime and nip Quezon City TODA Aksyon, 76-73, on Monday in the MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Sixth Season at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando, Pampanga.
Trailing, 53-61, with only 45.1 seconds to go, the Rum Masters dropped 10 points on a triple by Levi Hernandez, a four-point play by Jong Baloria and another triple by Mark Dela Virgen against two free throws by Rafael Are to knot the count at 63.
The Rum Masters then leaned on back-to-back triples by Hernandez and another by Dela Virgen to take control, 72-67, with 2 minutes and 8 seconds to go in extra time.
Quezon City moved to within 73-74 following two charities by Abdul Sawat, but Hernandez responded with two free throws in the last 7.5 seconds to seal the Rum Masters' sixth win against a loss.
Dela Virgen ended up with 19 points, 4 assists and 2 rebounds to earn Best Player of the Game honors over Hernandez, who posted 13 points and 4 rebounds.
Struggling for the most part, Batangas trailed by as many as 21-31 and was still behind, 49-53, halfway through the fourth quarter.
Quezon City, which fell to 3-4, got 19 points and 11 rebounds from Yambing, 18 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals from Are and 11 points plus 13 rebounds from Jason Ballesteros.
Earlier, the Negros Muscovados blitzed the Iloilo United Royals in the second quarter en route to a 72-66 victory that raised their record to 4-5.
Negros wins a tight one
The game was tight, 17-14, until Negros, powered by the 9 points of Bill Geolingo and the back-to-back triples of Jeremy Cruz, poured 28 points against only 8 for Iloilo to pull away for good, 45-22.
Cruz wound up with 15 points, 9 rebounds and 2 steals, followed by Jefferson Comia with 11 points plus 9 rebounds, and Hubert Cani with 10 points and 3 rebounds.
Hounded by an atrocious 1-of-17 triple shooting, Iloilo tumbled to 2-6. The Royals got 14 points and 5 rebounds from Gwyne Capacio, 13 points, 7 assist and 6 rebounds from Shaquille Imperial, 12 points plus 3 rebounds from Mark Nonoy, and 11 points plus 11 rebounds from CJ Cansino.
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