Racal escapes Victoria, moves to joint second place

FILE – Lervin Flores. PBA IMAGES

Racal lost hold of a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter but got its act together in time to escape with a 75-70 victory over Victoria Sports-MLQU Tuesday in the 2017 PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup at JCSGO Gym in Cubao.

Lervin Flores made huge stops in the fourth quarter and finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and two blocks, while Kent Salado got 12 markers, 10 boards, and five assists.

Roider Cabrera also had 10 points and six rebounds for Racal, which tied Cafe France at second place, both carrying an identical 6-1 slate.

“We had lots of miscommunications. I told them to not feel too confident because (Victoria) is very deceiving. Luckily, we made stops and we had good rotations in the end game,” said coach Jerry Codinera.

Racal squandered a nine-point edge, 69-60, with 6:21 remaining and let Victoria grab a 70-69 lead courtesy of a 10-0 spurt.

But the Tile Masters held strong on the defensive end, with Flores and Sidney Onwubere making huge plays in the last two minutes as they bounced back from a 77-75 loss to Jose Rizal University last week.

Aris Dionisio led also-ran Victoria (1-7) with 16 points and 18 rebounds, while Robbie Herndon also got 16 markers and six boards in the losing effort.

The Scores:

RACAL 75 – Flores 14, Salado 12, Cabrera 10, Torres 9, Mangahas 7, Onwubere 7, Nambatac 4, Terso 4, Apreku 2, Corpuz 2, Dagangon 2, Gumaru 2, Gabawan 0.
VICTORIA 70 – Dionisio 16, Herndon 16, Grimaldo 11, Ayonayon 8, Koga 8, Ragasa 4, Nicholls 3, Lao 2, Puspus 2.

Quarters: 24-20, 44-36, 62-54, 75-70.