Rich Guinataran scored 24 and Centro Escolar University (CEU) held off Gamboa Coffee Mix, 100-96, on Monday and enhanced its dive for a playoff berth in the Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League Foundation Cup at the Ynares Arena in Pasig City.
Guinitaran capped his second half explosion with a clutch three and a short jumper that broke an 88-all count and shove the Scorpions ahead for good.
The Scorpions, who bounce back from a 79-91 loss to the Flying V Thunders last week, tied idle Wangs Basketball at fourth and fifth spots with 5-3 marks to bolster its hope of making it to the quarterfinals.
Only the top six teams will advance to the playoffs. The top two teams earn outright entry into the semi-finals while the fourth and fifth placed teams enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage over the fifth and sixth seeded squads in the quarters.
Pat Aquino tallied 18 points, Orlan Wamar had a double-double with 16 and 11 assists while john Casino and Mark Cruz combined for 24 points for CEU, which trailed by as many as 13 points at the end of the first quarter.
“I talked to Rich before the game and told him the team needs to play with confidence and it must start from him. I thought he responded well. This is a big game for us,” said CEU coach Jong Garcia.
Guinataran made nine of 19 shots including six triples.
Leo Avenido led all scorers with 28 points and his 3-pointer with 3:12 left tied the game at 88.
But Guinitaran quickly answered with a 3 then hit a short jumper following a turnovers by the Coffee Lovers.
Mike Parala tallied 17 points and JR Cawaling had 13 and Val Acuna and Alvin Padilla added 11 apiece for Gamboa Coffee Mix which led 47-45. But they committed one error after the other in the third and CEU capitalized on it.
The Scorpions outscored the Coffee Lovers, 38-19, to take an 83-66 advantage entering the fourth.