The Racal Tile Masters lost hold of a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter, but got their act together in time to escape with a 75-70 victory against the Victoria Sports-Manuel L. Quezon University Stallions, Tuesday evening at the JCSGO Gym in Cubao, Quezon City.
Lervin Flores made huge stops in the fourth quarter and finished with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, 11 rebounds, and two blocks. Kent Salado added 12 markers, 10 boards, and five assists.
Roider Cabrera also had 10 points and six rebounds for Racal, who have tied Café France at second place, both carrying an identical 6-1 slate.
“We had lots of miscommunication. I told them to not feel too confident because (Victoria) is very deceiving. Luckily, we made stops and we had good rotations in the end game,” said coach Jerry Codinera.
Racal squandered a nine-point edge, 69-60, with 6:21 remaining and let Victoria grab a 70-69 lead courtesy of a 10-0 spurt.
But the Tile Masters held strong on the defensive end, with Flores and Sidney Onwubere making huge plays in the last two minutes, as they bounced back from a 77-75 loss to Jose Rizal University last week.
The Tile Masters shot 43 percent from the field, compared to just 32 percent for the Stallions.
Aris Dionisio led the also-ran Victoria Sports (1-7) with 16 points and 18 rebounds, while Robbie Herndon also got 16 markers and six boards in the losing effort.
Racal’s penultimate game of the elimination round will be against the Café France Bakers on Thursday, March 9, 5:00 PM at the Ynares Center in Pasig City, while Victoria Sports-MLQU will next play Blustar next Tuesday, February 14, 3:00 PM, still at the JCSGO Gym.
The Scores:
Racal (75) – Flores 14, Salado 12, Cabrera 10, Torres 9, Mangahas 7, Onwubere 7, Nambatac 4, Terso 4, Apreku 2, Corpuz 2, Dagangon 2, Gumaru 2, Gabawan 0.
Victoria Sports-MLQU (70) – Dionisio 16, Herndon 16, Grimaldo 11, Ayonayon 8, Koga 8, Ragasa 4, Nicholls 3, Lao 2, Puspus 2.
Quarterscores: 24-20, 44-36, 62-54, 75-70.
