THE San Juan Knights blew a 25-point lead and went through two overtimes to subdue the Pasay Voyagers, 94-89, on Wednesday in the opener of their MPBL North Division quarterfinal series at the Nueva Ecija Coliseum in Palayan City.
Orlan Wamar, atoning for his earlier miscues, again rescued the Knights from disaster, converting four charities and feeding AC Soberano for a triple in a closing 9-point San Juan run that turned the game around.
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Aggressive all the way, the Voyagers led, 89-85, on Darell Manliguez's two free throws with 1 minute and 47 seconds left in the second extension.
The Voyagers couldn't score after that, however, and the Knights countered through Wamar, Soberano and Arvin Gamboa's two charities.
The second overtime ended at 84-all after Pasay's Jasper Salenga missed a jumper at the buzzer.
Felipe Chavez drilled in a triple with 8.5 seconds to go to knot the count at 77-77, in regulation, after which Wamar missed a probable game-winner.
The Knights surged ahead, 46-21, midway through the second quarter, only for the Voyagers to rally through Christian Fajarito, Manliguez, Cyrus Tabi, Jasper Salenga and Marc Danie Sangco.
Soberano posted 24 points, all from rainbow territory, while Wamar tallied 15 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists.
Gamboa finished with 12 points, the same as Dexter Maiquez, while Rayl Soyud contributed 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Pasay drew 20 points and 6 rebounds from Fajarito, 16 points and 5 rebounds from Manliguez, 10 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 steals from Sangco, 11 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals from Tabi, and 10 points plus 3 rebounds from Salenga.
The MPBL visits the Batangas City Coliseum on Thursday, with the South Division quarterfinals pitting Binan Tatak Gel against Rizal Province at 6 p.m., and Batangas against Zamboanga SiKat at 8 p.m.
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