MANILA, Philippines—In this game, Hapee Toothpaste didn’t mind being called plain lucky.
The Complete Protectors fended off Magnolia Purewater’s furious rally with a Josh Vanlandingham triple with 3.2 seconds left for a 76-73 win Tuesday that spoiled the Wizards’ bid for an outright semifinal stint in the PBL PG Flex Linoleum Cup at the San Beda College gym.
“We were just lucky in the last play,” said Hapee coach Gee Abanilla. “Josh bailed us out. We controlled the game but when we lost Jeff Morial [due to an injury], we had a problem.”
Vanlandingham buried the game-winner following a handoff pass from Earn Saguindel to salvage the game, where the Complete Protectors led by as many as 18 points, 61-43.
“We were lucky that Josh found a good location,” said Abanilla of Vanlandingham, a 6-foot-3 Fil-Am rookie from Pacific Lutherian University in Washington.
In the second game, early semifinalist Harbour Centre coasted to a 93-82 victory over Burger King for its ninth win in 10 matches.
Reed Juntilla topscored with 18 points for the Batang Pier who led all the way. Rico Maierhofer also came through with a solid all-around performance for 16 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
Hapee grabbed a share of third place with Bacchus at 5-5 to boost its faint hopes of securing an automatic Final Four slot.
Magnolia, in second place with a 7-3 record, only need to win one of its last two games to join Harbour Centre in the semifinals.
Burger King fell to 3-7, just barely ahead of the cellar-dwelling Pharex. The team with the worst record misses the quarterfinals.
Magnolia guard Leo Losentes, whose bucket with 15.6 seconds left tied the contest at 73, tried to push the game into overtime but his three-point attempt fell short at the buzzer.
The scores:
First Game
HAPEE 76—Grijaldo 12,Vanlandingham 11, Cruz 11, Espiritu 10, Convento 9, Saguindel 9, Daa 7, Morial 4, Viray 3, Hugnatan 0.
MAGNOLIA 73—Ababou 18, Rańeses 14, Magpayo 13, Losentes 10, Saldua 7, Taylor 4, Escueta 3, Rodriguez 3, Amparado 1, Uichico 0, Balneg 0, Alcaraz 0.
Quarters: 13-18, 37-26, 61-47, 76-73
Second Game
HARBOUR CENTRE 93—Juntilla 18, Maierhofer 16, Barroca 14, Ramos 13, Gaco 11, Asoro 8, Barua 5, Fernandez 5, Cawaling 3, Reyes 0, Serios 0, Bautista 0.
BURGER KING 82—Arellano 16, Misa 15, Menor 12, David 11, Luanzon 8, Marcelo 6, Baracael 6, Ballesteros 4, Pascual 2, Nocom 2, Taganas 0, Tecson 0.
Quarters: 25-21, 50-42,71-67, 93-82
