MANILA, Philippines—RnW stared at a double-digit deficit before Kevin Racal took matters into his own hands.
Racal came through with 25 points to lead the Steelmasters to a thrilling 78-77 squeaker over the Dub Unlimited Wheelers Tuesday in the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup at the Lyceum Gym.
“He (Racal) is a fighter,” said RnW coach Topex Robinson.
“The reason I got him because he is a fighter. He just pulled us through this game,” added Robinson, whose squad won its first game in two outings.
A late addition in the line-up, Racal announced his arrival in style by scoring eight points in the final quarter including the game-winning drive with only 54.7 ticks left.
Dub Unlimited, which remained winless at 0-3, had the chance to win but Mar Villahermosa’s turnaround shot rimmed out as time expired.
RnW climbed out of a 57-67 hole thanks to a 14-4 run capped by two freebies from Letran spitfire Racal that knotted the count at 71-all.
The Wheelers built a 77-73 cushion with 1:36 left on a one-handed dunk by Raymond Aguilar.
Dub though, committed too many errors down the stretch that allowed RnW to steal the game away.
Meanwhile, Blackwater Elite kept its record unscathed after turning back Cafe France, 92-86.
University of Santo Tomas ace Jeric Fortuna led the way with 18 points for Blackwater, which is now at 3-0.