Alex Compton, doing what he does best, rifled a triple in the dying seconds to lift defending champion Manila to a pulsating 92-89 road victory over Cagayan de Oro yesterday in the MBA FedEx Crossover Cup at the MPSC gym in Cagayan.
Although he earlier flubbed all his six attempts from the long range, Compton was able to find the range in the last 1.2 seconds of the game, just in time to shatter the 89-all deadlock and power the Metrostars to their fourth victory in six games.
Compton, last year's Most Valuable Player who missed the team's first three games due to injury, finished with 20 points and came up with six assists and three steals.
But it was the Metrostars' resolute defense that anchored their victory as they held the Amigos to just four points down the stretch before setting up Compton for that marginal triple.
The Amigos took their second loss in four games.
The hosts, flashing their familiarity with the playing venue, actually came up with a barrage of triples in the third period as they took a commanding 75-61 lead they held until the last four minutes of the contest, 85-77.
Over in San Juan, the Knights also escaped with a thrilling 63-62 win over the Iloilo Megavoltz at the San Juan gym as Dale Singson cracked up under pressure and missed both charities in the last 10.5 seconds. It was the Knights' second win in three starts, while the Megavoltz fell to their fourth straight setback.