BICOL star Alwin Alday shone on both ends to lift the Spicy Oragon to a nail-biting 73-72 escape over the Nueva Ecija Slashers Thursday night in the Pilipinas Super League Pro Division Second Conference Dumper Cup at the San Andres Gym in Manila.
Guard Jordan Ingel shoved the Slashers to within 70-71 with a layup with one minute remaining but Alday calmly sank two pressure-packed free throws for a 73-70 Bicol lead with 52 seconds to go.
Nueva Ecija still had a lifeline after forward Jeric Nacpil’s two charities pegged a 72-73 count and Alday missed a floater.
But Alday saved the day for Bicol by blocking Kris Torado’s game-winning attempt that sealed the Spicy Oragon’s gutsy win in the tilt presented by Dumper party-list and Winzer and supported by Wcube Solutions Inc., MDC, Unisol, Don Benitos, and Finn Cotton, with Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and Gilas Pilipinas great Marc Pingris serving as commissioner.
Alday tallied 13 points, three assists and two rebounds for Bicol, while Lester Reyes backed him up with 13 points and five rebounds. Mario Bonleon also had 10 points and five rebounds for the Spicy Oragon.
Nacpil scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Slashers, while Edzel Mag-Isa got 16 points.
Rence Alcoriza propelled Manila to a 95-87 victory over Batang Kankaloo-Caloocan in the other game.
Alcoriza notched 27 points he laced with seven rebounds and four assists for the Stars, while Kyle Neypes and Levi Dela Cruz added 12 points each.
Macky Acosta finished with 11 points and five rebounds for Manila. Maurice Shaw got four rebounds and two points in 11 minutes in his Stars debut.
Former PBA player Gabby Espinas paced the Koolers with 24 points and eight rebounds, while Dhareeel Caranguian contributed 12 points.
Action resumes on Monday with Koponan Lakan Bulakan taking on Nueva Ecija at the Caloocan Sports Complex. Bicol guns for a second straight win against Batang Kankaloo-Caloocan.
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