ABEL Galliguez knocked in a triple with just a second to go as Cagayan Valley spoiled Hapee’s sweep bid with an 80-77 upset in the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup yesterday at Ynares Sports Arena.
“It was a tied ball game and I said ‘Let’s put this game away, I want to take the last shot,’” said the Fil-Am Galliguez after the Rising Suns completed a huge rally from 16 points down in the bruising battle between the two leading teams.
The stunner gave the Rising Suns the solo lead at 10-0 and relegated the favored Fresh Fighters to second spot with a 10-1 card.
Moala Tautuaa finished with a game-high 24 points, 15 in the third quarter where he started hitting triples and rattling dunks to spark the Rising Suns’ turnaround
Jumbo Plastic, meanwhile, clinched the last quarterfinal bonus after tripping MJM M-Builders, 88-80, behind Philip Paniamogan’s double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Galliguez finished with 16 points, while Don Trollano added 11 for the Rising Suns.
After a pair of Cagayan turnovers, Hapee tied the game at 77 with just 10.4 ticks left.
After Galliguez nailed the trey, the Fresh Fighters tried to forge an extra period but Garvo Lanete’s attempt at the buzzer rattled out.
Both Jumbo Plastic and Cebuana Lhuillier wrapped up the eliminations with similar 7-4 records, but the Giants secured the fourth spot and the twice-to-beat incentive due to the winner-over-the other tiebreak rule.
“We were pressured to win,” coach Stevenson Tiu said of his Giants, who hurdled the must-win game right after Cebuana Lhuillier routed MP Hotel, 93-62.