The Parañaque Patriots poured 10 points and held the Sarangani Marlins scoreless in the last four minutes to tally a come-from-behind 77-75 victory in the OKBet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Fifth Season on Friday at the Olivarez College Gym in Paranaque.
Trailing, 67-75, following a 7-point cluster by the Marlins, the Patriots countered behind two charities and a hook shot by Joshua Gallano, a triple by Jielo Razon, and a lay-up by Keith Pido to seize control at 76-75 with still 13 seconds to go.
Lean Vincent Martel then pulled off a steal, got fouled, and split his two free throws in the last eight seconds for the final count that raised Paranaque’s record to 7-8, tying its victim in the single round-robin elimination phase of the 29-team tournament.
Gallano, star of the Olivarez College Sea Lions, fired a game-high 26 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and issued 5 assists to earn best player honors.
He was supported by Paolo Castro with 15 points and John Umali with 14.
Sarangani got 22 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, 7 assists and 5 rebounds from Jeff Viernes. John Paul Cauilan added 15 points for the Marlins, who also got 11 points from Romel Calahat and 10 from Jefferson Comia.
With Gallardo and Martel, who had 13 rebounds, joining forces, the Patriots ruled the boards, 62-30, and scored 42 points inside the paint as against only 14 for the Marlins.
Earlier, Pasay and Marikina won in contrasting fashion over Oriental Mindoro and Quezon City, respectively.
The Pasay Voyagers needed to go through overtime before subduing the Oriental Mindoro Disiplinados, 89-86, while the Marikina Shoemasters dumped depleted Quezon City Gaz N Go, 89-50.
Mindoro could have won outright, but Paulo Hubalde missed on a drive as the final buzzer sounded, enabling Pasay to rise to 11-3.
The Voyagers drew 29 points from Laurenz Pasul Victoria, 23 points from Alejandro Inigo and 10 from Rommel Mangalino.
Mindoro, which fell to 2-13, got 21 points from Kristan Hernandez, 16 from Christian De Chavez and 10 from Marvel Jimenez.
With Eloie Tan Marikina posting 13 points plus 9 boards, Marikina climbed to 7-8. Quezon, which fielded only 10 players, tumbled to 3-13.
The MPBL goes to the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena on Saturday with a triple bill pitting Bulacan against Bacolod at 4 p.m., Muntinlupa against Negros at 6 p.m. and Makati against Quezon at 8 p.m.
