Street Chef and SH Flight finally barged into the win column even as 3W Builders zoomed to their fourth victory the Next5Hoops Metro Manila South Leg last Sunday.
3W Builders joined WarFit Basketball at the top spot of Pool 1 with identical 4-0 cards but not before squeaking past Grease Monkey, 85-83, in a thrilling back-and-forth affair.
After yielding the lead to Grease Monkey midway the fourth, 3W Builders banked on the clutch heroics of Exequiel Panares in the last 32 seconds to stay unscathed in the tournament so far.
Panares accounted for 3W Builders’ last four points that put them head 85-81 with 16 ticks left before Grease Monkey inched within a bucket with two.
A steal from Karlo Sumabat gave Grease Monkey some hope but Elo Cantos misfired on his team’s final attempt to steal the victory at the buzzer.
Panares was a monster on the floor topping all scorers with 32 points that went along with 11 rebounds, three assists before fouling out with time winding down. RJ Eusebio added 14 while Jepoy Vito Cruz and Matthew Riel added 12 each.
Russel Arcilla had 22 points for Grease Monkey, who absorbed their second loss against as many victories.
Street Chef, meanwhile, completed a turnaround from 10 points down at the start of the payoff period to stun Aling Lucy’s, 74-67, for a first victory after four attempts.
A 27-13 fourth quarter output made the difference for Street Chef, which leaned on Franz Abuda who led with 20 points, Dominic Reyes who had 15 and Benjie Villeres and Manuel Lopez who and 10 apiece.
Villeres first gave Street Chef the lead, 61-59, on two free throws with 5:33 left and they never looked back from there leading by as many as 7 several times in the final half of the quarter.
Only 2 players finished in double digits with Vincent Puno and John Tuliao churning out 11 each for Aling Lucy’s, which led by as much as 18 points early in the third period.
SH Flight likewise picked up its first triumph in four games, turning back Ballerhood, 91-86. Despite just a slim lead—none bigger than nine points—in the fourth period, SH Flight held on to keep Ballerhood the only undefeated team so far in Pool 1 of the tournament.
Rob Angeles led the fight for SH Flight with 29 points and seven boards while getting solid back up from Karl Soriano, who had 16 points, 14 rebounds and six dimes.
Ballerhood came short in its best effort so far in four attempts, failing to capitalize on the close fourth quarter as it only got to within one, 70-71, with over five minutes left.
Earl Sian and Dred Gatchalian contributed 23 and 21 points, respectively, off the bench for Ballerhood.
