FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Jerie Pingoy led the way as Energen Pilipinas prevailed over erstwhile unbeaten Chinese Taipei, 88-83, Tuesday to assure itself of a quarterfinal slot in the Fiba Asia U-18 in Ulan Bator, Mongolia.
Pingoy, the UAAP juniors MVP, shot 25 points, including a three-point play that gave the Philippines breathing room, 86-82, with 46 seconds left.
He also brought his team to within one, before dishing out two assists to Jay Javelosa and Paolo Rivero that put PH back up, 81-80, at the 1:52 mark.
Chinese Taipei, which trailed by as much as nine at halftime, however, wouldn’t go down without a fight.
Jin-Cheng Chiu delivered that gave his squad up by a thread, 82-81. But Letran’s Rey Nambatac answered with his own to make it, 83-82, with 1:11 remaining as PH never fell behind after that.
Skipper Jay Alejandro added the finishing touches at the stripe with 18 seconds left. Alejandro finished with 22 points and nine rebounds.
The Philippines, which improved to 4-1, faces Bahrain Wednesday.
Chinese Taipei’s Kuan-Chun Lin equaled Pingoy’s point total with 25.