Defending champion Davao Occidental-Cocolife thwarted a furious Nueva Ecija fightback to pull off a pulsating 78-76 win and remain unscathed in the Manila Bankers Life-Pilipinas Super League Pro Division Second Conference Dumper Cup held recently at the Central Recreational Facility in New Era, Quezon City.
After forward Daniel De Guzman buried a booming three-pointer that pulled the Slashers to within 76-77 in the waning seconds, Tigers guard Emman Calo knocked down a free throw that pegged the final count with only 6.0 ticks left.
Nueva Ecija still had a shot at either winning the game with a three or extending the game with a basket, but De Guzman missed his last-gasp triple try at the buzzer.
Calo shone for Davao with 18 points and two rebounds, while Larry Rodriguez barely missed a double-double with 15 points and nine boards.
John Wilson and Marco Balagtas also had nine and eight points, respectively for the Tigers, who rose to 5-0, counting a 108-64 demolition of San Pedro Laguna-ARS last week in the tourney presented by Winzir, co-presented by SCD Cosmetics and Dumper party-list, and supported by NET 25, Adcon, Wcube Solutions Inc., MDC, Unisol, Don Benitos, and Finn Cotton.
The Slashers, coming off a numbing 71-72 loss to Bagong Cabuyao-Homelab Nation also last week, fell to 2-4.
In the other game, Quezon City’s defense harassed Boracay and held the Islanders to just three points in the fourth quarter to cruise to a 61-49 win.
Former PBA player Mac Baracael led the Beacons with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Jan Jamon and Joel Lee Yu combined for 17 markers.
The victory made up for Quezon City’s 73-81 defeat to 1Munti last Dec. 12.
