Batangas leaned on the heroics of Cedric de Joya to eke out a dramatic 81-79 victory over Wangs Basketball yesterday and gain a share of the early lead in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
De Joya, a 5-foot-6 product of the University of Batangas, made the gutsy decision of scoring the winning basket with his team having no timeouts left following a game-tying triple by Wangs’ Robbie Herndon to give Batangas its second win in as many games.
He finished with 14 points and three assists in 26 minutes of action, much to the delight of Batangas coach Eric Gonzales, whose team is tied for the top spot with the idle Flying V Thunder.
In the second game, Tanduay pulled away in the second half to beat Centro Escolar University, 75-60, and bounce back from an 89-63 loss to Aspirants’ Cup champion Cignal last Thursday.
Ex-pro Lester Alvarez finished with 16 points and five rebounds while Adi Santos fell a rebound short of a double-double with 16 points and nine boards for the Rhum Masters, who took control after a 30-28 halftime lead.
