Carlo Lastimosa forced overtime with a steal and a jumper and Pasig went on to beat Quezon City MG Cars, 84-80, on Tuesday in the opener of their quarterfinal series in the OKbet-MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 4th Season Presented by Xtreme at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
With Pasig behind, 76-78, Lastimosa came through with a floater that knotted the count with 27 seconds to go and then watched as Quezon City’s Levi Dela Cruz missed a triple with 4.9 seconds left.
Lastimosa, Jason Melano and Marc Tamayo could only tally 2 points each in the extension period but their effort proved enough for the shaky win as only Kentoy Segura could score for Quezon City.
It was a memorable night for Melano as he became the 10th and latest member of the MPBL’s 1,000-point club following an 18-point effort. Robbie Manalang wound up with 14 points and 5 assists.
Valenzuela got 23 points from Patrick Cabahug, 14 each from Allan Santos and Andrey Armenion and 12 points plus 13 rebounds from Jaymar Gimpayan.
Earlier, San Juan trounced Quezon City, 90-82, in their own best-of-three series behind the 36-point explosion of Judel Fuentes. Orlan Wamar added 15 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, while Egie boy Mojica chipped in 11 points for the Go for Gold-backed Knights.
Quezon City got 18 points from Dela Cruz, 17 from Marlon Monte and 19 from Kyle Drexler Neypes.
Pasig and San Juan aim for repeats and stints in the semifinal round when they tackle the same opponents on October 25.
