The defending NCAA champions are on the downswing while the Heavy Bombers are surging.
The Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers relied on the heroics of Teytey Teodoro once more in staving off the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights in overtime, 75-68, to go up to solo fifth Tuesday afternoon at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
Teodoro dropped 23 points on the Knights, eight coming in overtime. He was 9-of-20 from the field and knocked down four triples.
However, the game was not supposed to go to overtime according to JRU head coach Vergel Meneses as Teodoro wasted 25 seconds of regulation, failing to throw up an attempt to end the game.
“Sabi ko nga sa kanya, hindi siya nun yung tira bago mag-overtime,” Meneses said. “Fan tayo nito kaya siya nandito sa JRU.”
Free throws by Rey Nambatac, who powered the Letran come back in the fourth period, opened overtime with a couple of free throws followed by a JP Calvo triple to give the Knights’ a 64-60 edge a minute in.
Not wanting to lose another close one, Abdoul Poutouchi scored four straight points to tie the game with three minutes left.
“I wanted to win,” Poutouochi, who finished the game with eight points and 15 rebounds, shared. “We are tired of losing.”
Teodoro then took charge, vanquishing Rey Nambatac for a pull-up jumper, while finding MJ dela Virgen, who knocked down two freebies to extend JRU’s lead to 68-64 with 2:12 remaining.
Calvo tried to will his team back but Teodoro once again “broke the ankles” of Nambatac and knocked down a cold-blooded triple. Losing steam, the Knights committed numerous unforced turnovers that led to baskets for Gio Lasquety and Teodoro to seal the win.
“Eto yung first three straight namin sana sa next game namin four straight win na,” Meneses added.
However, he is still far from satisfied with the win. “Siguro we should play smart basketball during crunch time. Penalty na Letran but we kept on shooting from the outside and not giving the ball to Abdoul,” the mentor rued.
Paolo Pontejos added 16 points for the Heavy Bombers, who held a game-high 14 points, 31-17, early in the second frame. However, the Knights rallied back, gaining a 59-57 lead with 1:36 remaining in regulation.
For the Knights, Nambatac was the high point man with 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting but committed six turnovers. JP Calvo added 18 markers.
The JRU Heavy Bombers (5th, 6-5) look to continue the ride of momentum they are in on Friday, August 26 against the Lyceum Pirates (6th, 5-6) at 2:00pm. The Letran Knights (7th, 5-6) hopes to end its streak on the same day against San Beda (1st, 10-2) at 4:00pm.
The Scores:
JRU (75) – Teodoro 23, Pontejos 16, Grospe 10, Poutouochi 8, Dela Virgen 7, Cruz 3, Abdul Wahab 2, Dada 2, Dela Paz 2, Lasquety 2.
CSJL (68) – Nambatac 19, Calvo 18, Quinto 14, Sollano 8, Balanza 7, Luib 2, Ambohot 0, Apreku 0, Pambid 0.
Quarterscores: 21-13, 37-32, 46-43, 59-59, 75-68.
