Malacañang banked on a strong second half performance to stun Philippine National Police, 66-64, and grab the solo lead in the 3rd UNTV Cup held over the weekend at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
The Patriots trailed 36-29 at the half, but Andro Reques and Paul Yamamoto put in solid effort in the last two quarters as they pulled the rug from under the Responders.
Reques buried two triples to finish with 13 points while Yamamoto chipped in 12 as the Patriots moved within a win of sweeping the five-team Group A elimination.
In Group B, Senate exploited its height advantage to notch its second straight win, an 88-65 drubbing of GSIS.
Marlon Legaspi set the tone for Senate’s runaway win by scoring nine of his game-high 26 points in the first quarter.
The Defenders played aggressively right from the start not allowing the GSIS Furies to grab a single offensive rebound. In all, the Defenders had 36 boards against only 12 for the Furies.
The champion of the tournament organized by UNTV officials, led by multi-titled broadcaster Daniel S. Razon, will receive P1.5 million prize which will be donated to its chosen beneficiary.