ZAMBOANGA Valientes rallied from an eight point deficit to stun East Sea Pirates, 96-90, in The Asian Tournament Thursday night in Guandong, China.
Import Nick Evans had 19 points, while Malik Diouf had a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Philippine side.
But it was Zamboanguenos Mike Tolomia and Peter Alfaro who delivered in the stretch run of the Valientes' third win in five outings.
Tolomia finished with 11, while Alfaro had 16 including the game-clinching three that took the fight out of the Pirates, who fell to a 2-3 record at the end of the Guandong leg of the tournament.
It was the trio of Alfaro, Tolomia, and another Zamboanga native Rudy Lingganay who sparked the Valientes comeback after trailing by as many as eight points in the final quarter.
Team owner Junie Navarro made special mention on Lingganay and Alfaro for showing resiliency and toughness by diving for looseballs and inspiring the whole team for the comeback win.
Kascius Small-Martin paced the Taiwan-based East Pirates with a game-high 36 points and 13 rebounds, while Ben Camacho Borja added 20.
The scores
Zamboanga Valientes (96) - Diouf 20, Evans 19, Alfaro 16, Tolomia 11, Ventura 10, Johnson 5, Salim 5, Lingganay 4, Esa 4, Alcantara 2.
East Sea Pirates (90) - Small-Martin 36, Camacho Borja 20, Miller 17, Peng Ma 8, Zhu 5, Harrison Jr. 2, Sama 2.
Quarterscores: 25-24; 57-46; 72-75; 96-90.
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