PBA D-League: Racal hero Paniamogan deflects credit to Terso

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Philip Paniamogan was mobbed by his teammates as the horn sounded signaling the end of Racal’s dramatic win over Phoenix.

Paniamogan had just sank the game-winning shot, a contested step back triple from the top of the key with 3.1 seconds left that he cooly made as if it was shootaround.

It was a heroic moment for Paniamogan, but for the former Jose Rizal University star, there wouldn’t have been a celebration on the floor with him at the center of it if not for one of his teammates.

“Para sa akin si Terso nagpanalo,” Paniamogan said shortly after the Tile Masters’ 90-88 comeback win on Tuesday. “Dalawang big shots sa kanya and kung hindi dahil sa kanya talo rin kami.”

Paniamogan was referring to Joseph Terso, who buried a pair of pressure-packed threes, had a crucial steal and assist and drew an offensive foul in the final two minutes and 25 seconds.

Terso deflected the credit and instead attributed the victory to a “total team effort.” He finished with nine points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting from the field in only 11 minutes off the bench.

“Ready lang talaga ako palagi kasi yung rotation naman namin iba every game,” said the former National University point guard. “Wala kaming starting five na legit talaga and pag-open tira lang, yun lang din naman ang reminder sa amin ni coach palagi.”

Neither Paniamogan nor Terso wanted to take any credit for the Tile Masters’ all-important win that bolstered their bid for a top two finish, but their numbers in the most crucial part of the game would make their case as both combined for 11 of their team’s final 13 points in the last three minutes.

“We’re happy with the way we finished the game. We relied more on our second group than our starters. We weren’t really hitting anything except in the end,” said Racal head coach Caloy Garcia, whose bench production were led by Paniamogan and Terso, who teamed up for 21 points.