Photo by Jan Dizon
MANILA—Nigerian Alinko Mbah nailed a tough shot with 1.7 seconds remaining as University of the Philippines won a squeaker against the University of the East, 78-76, yesterday in the FilOil-Flying V Hanes Preseason Premier Cup.
The game looked headed for extra period after UE’s Chris Javier sunk a trey, 76-76 with only 9.7 tics left, but the UP Maroons pulled out one last gasp to beat the buzzer at the FilOil-Flying V Arena.
Earlier, the University of Santo Tomas devoured a hapless Lyceum, 65-55, and seized the fourth spot in its group top teams Ateneo, NU and San Sebastian.
Rookie Kevin Ferrer logged 17 points and six rebounds as the Tigers survived Jeric Teng’s ejection in the third frame. Teng’s ejection seemed to fire up UST, which went on a 16-2 tear to wrap the match up.
After a deadlock at 38 in the first half, a gritty Diliman-based squad carved a 10-2 scoring salvo courtesy of Jelo Montecastro’s back-to-back layups to give UP the lead.
In the other game, Adamson tallied its sixth triumph in seven games as it overpowered Mapua, 66-60.
Falcons’ guard Alex Nuyles had 16 markers and seven grabs followed by Lester Alvarez with 13 points and a rebound.
“I’m happy that we obtained this No. 2 position in our group,” said Adamson coach Leo Austria in Filipino.