Kent Ilagan scattered 22 points and Che’Lu Bar & Grill-San Sebastian College rallied late for an 83-79 victory over the hard-lucked AMA Online Education on Thursday in the Philippine Basketball Association D-League Aspirants’ Cup at the Ynares Arena in Pasig City.
The Revellers put together a 13-6 run in the final three-and-a-half minutes to turn a 70-73 deficit into a thrilling victory.
Marinerong Pilipino survived a third-quarter meltdown and the Skippers held off a strong challenge from the Batangas-Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) Generals down the stretch for an 92-78 victory in the other game.
Rian Ayonayon scored eight points during a 10-0 run as the Skippers pulled away after Jerome Garcia pulled the General within 73-78 with 7:01 left.
Gab Banal scored 17 points and Ayonayon had 16 for Marinerong Pilipino, which snapped a two-game skid and improved to 2-2 record.
Jeric Diego turned in 20 points for Batangas-EAC, which absorbed its third straight loss and joined AMA at the cellar.
“We’re supposed to lose with the way we played,” said Coach Stevenson Tiu, obviously disappointed with the Revellers’ slow start.
“Every game, we start slow. We just couldn’t adjust and we couldn’t get our rhythm,” he added. “Good thing the veterans responded and delivered in the end game.”
Ilagan made 8 of 13 shots, including 6-of-11 from three-point range, while Samboy de Leon added 21, including two free throws and a jump shot to cap the fiery windup as the Revellers bounced back from a stunning 83-82 loss to Wang’s Basketball-Letran on Monday.
Che’Lu Bar & Grill-San Sebastian improved to a 2-1 won-lost record.
It was another frustrating defeat for the Titans, who led for most part but came up short. They picked up their third successive loss in as many games.
Mike Calisaan tallied 12 points and Alfred Batino had 10, while the two of them combined for 21 rebounds as the Revellers dominated the boards, 57-47.
AMA had a 73-70 lead with 4:04 remaining before Batino completed a 3-play to tie tollowed with a he count. Calisaan scored on a layup and Ilagan followed with a short jumper for a four-point Revellers lead.
A three-pointer and a free throw by Robbie Manalang tied the game for the last time at 77 with 2:25 left before the Revellers closed the scoring with a 6-2 run.
Manalang led all scorers with 28 points. Genmar Bragais tallied 16 markers and grabbed 13 boards, while Carlo Escalambre had 13 points and five rebounds for the Titans, who shot just 8-of-23 in the fourth quarter.