Hosts Flying V Thunder registered crucial plays down the stretch and fended off the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA Altas, 74-66, to get their third win in the series of tuneup matches, Sunday afternoon at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
Gab Banal provided the key stops and ended up with 16 points and 11 rebounds to pace the white-shirts. Oda Tampus added 10 markers, most of which came from that second-quarter run that clinched the Thunder the lead for good.
Despite the win, head coach Eric Altamirano rued their performance for this game. “I think today we were not in sync, for whatever reason,” he said.
“I think we were measuring up the opponent kasi nakita nilang wala yung import ng Perpetual. The energy was not there,” the former National University mentor added.
GJ Ylagan and the Altas rallied back in the third and cut the deficit to the six after three, 56-60. Nonetheless, Flying V soared in the fourth to pull off the win.
The Thunder will next face the Blackwater Elite on May 17, Wednesday, at 1:30 pm.
Ylagan finished the game with 14 points off 5-of-8 shooting to lead Perpetual, while Flash Sadiwa pinched in 11 markers.
The Altas (0-1) will resume their tournament proper when they face the University of Santo Tomas (0-2) on Friday, May 19, at 3:15 pm.
The Scores
Flying V (74) – Banal 16, Colina 10, Tampus 10, Mendoza 10, Teng 8, Cañada 6, Salamat 5, Austria 5, Torres 2, Webb 2, Thiele 0.
UPHSD (66) – Ylagan 14, Sadiwa 11, Mangalino 9, Coronel 9, Daganon 7, Pido 7, Lucente 6, Hao 3, Yuhico 0, Singontinko 0.
Quarterscores: 15-25, 42-36, 56-50, 74-66
