Role players save Arellano in 2OT

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Arellano just had enough gas left in the tank to beeat Jose Rizal University in a 115-109 double overtime thriller Thursday in the NCAA Season 93 men’s basketball tournament at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Catching the opposition by surprise, coach Jerry Codiñera went to his unheralded role players as guys like Allen Enriquez, Archie Concepcion, and Kraniel Viloria strung 10 straight points give the side 110-100 lead with 3:04 left in the 2nd OT, before Kent Salado put on the finishing touches.

“Those were big,” remarked Codiñera. Before that, the third guy was not evident, the third guy. We only have Salado and (Lervin) Flores, but the third option wasn’t there. But this time, we got good contributions from our bench.”

Rence Alcoriza topped Arellano with 23 points on a 4-of-5 shooting from three, while Salado got 17 markers, seven assists, and three boards.

Lervin Flores added a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds, Marwin Taywan got 15 markers and five assists, and Michael Cañete had 12 points and nine boards in the victory as the Chiefs rose to 4-6 in the standings.

“It’s a game of spurts. They made a run, we made a run, but I guess it’s the stops and we made the key stops,” said Codiñera.

Tey Teodoro forced the first overtime with an off-balanced triple from the right corner with 2.5 seconds to spare in regulation to tie the game at 89.

He continued his tear in the first extra period, drilling another trey this time from the right wing to give the Heavy Bombers a 100-97 lead with 18.5 ticks remaining.

However, the Chiefs refused to die as Salado threw a crosscourt pass to Zach Nicholls, who then miraculously canned a desperation three with 2.0 seconds left to once again knot the game at 100.

Teodoro still had a chance to win the game, but shot his floater too strong.

“We’re already down, but the prayer shot from Zach gave us relief. We were able to regroup from that shot and got some energy from our bench,” said Codiñera.

JRU’s short rotation took a toll on the team in the extra periods, as Teodoro, Ervin Grospe, Abdulwahab Abdulrazak, and Abdel Poutouochi all fouled out before the game concluded.

Teodoro went 6-of-17 from threes to wound up with 30 points and six rebounds, while Jed Mendoza collected 24 markers, four boards, and four assists.

Aaron Bordon also had 13 points, five rebounds, and three dimes in the defeat, as the Heavy Bombers saw their four-game winning streak snapped and fell to a 6-4 record.

The Scores:

ARELLANO 115 – Alcoriza 23, Salado 17, Flores 17, Taywan 15, Canete 12, Enriquez 9, Concepcion 9, Nicholls 5, Villoria 5, Abanes 3, Dela Cruz 0, Meca 0, Filart 0.
JRU 109 – Teodoro 30, Mendoza 24, Bordon 13, Grospe 10, Abdul Razak 10, Sawat 9, Lasquety 4, Poutouochi 4, Dela Virgen 3, David 2, Mate 0.

Quarters: 18-20, 43-39, 68-64, 89-89, 100-100, 115-109.