Nikola Pavlovic made sure to be the one to lift Pasig Chooks-to-Go out of the rot it was in, towing the squad to a 23-20 overtime win over France’s Lyon Blacklist, Saturday morning in Plaza de Leclerc in Poitiers, France.
The Serbian import, who was a former member of topflight squad Novi Sad, converted on a Joshua Munzon steal to give Pasig the advantage in the race-to-two overtime. A miss by Raphael Wilson led to a Pavlovic deuce to seal the win.
Pavlovic had 10 big points in the contest.
The ensured that Pasig, who was on a four-game losing streak in Challenger competitions, advanced to the knockout playoffs of the 2019 FIBA 3X3 Poitiers Challenger as Lyon fell to 0-2 in Pool D.
Lyon, who defeated La Rochelle and Poitiers in the Qualifying Draw, lost to Lausanne earlier in the day, 18-21.
Though facing a tired opponent, Pavlovic and Pasig needed to dig deep to survive this one.
It was a foul-plagued contest for Pasig, who committed a total of 12 fouls in the contest.
With 5:21 left, Taylor Statham committed the team’s seventh foul while with 2:48 remaining, Statham was slapped with Pasig’s 10th foul.
Fortunately for Pasig, Lyon shot just 6-of-14 from the stripe.
Still, Pasig persevered, rallying back from a lead that went to as high as five points.
Back-to-back deuces by Pavlovic gave Pasig a two-point lead with 1:25 left. Statham, later on, was able to get back a Wilson bucket to still have the cushion with 18 seconds left.
Sammy Girma though knocked down a miraculous two-ball at the buzzer to send the game into sudden death.
Statham had seven points while Joshua Munzon and Dylan Ababou chipped in three markers each.
Girma paced Lyon with nine markers.
Pasig looks to sweep Pool D when it takes on world no. 23 Lausanne at 2:50 am.
The Scores:
Pasig 23 – Pavlovic 10, Statham 7, Ababou 3, Munzon 3.
Lyon 20 – Girma 9, Houmounou 4, Wilson 4, Joseph 4.
