Playing before a jampacked crowd at the oven-hot San Andres Gym in Manila, the Phone Pals and the Thunder played their hearts out with the game being tied for the last time at 92-92 courtesy of Red Bull quarterback and reigning MVP Willie Miller, time down to five seconds.
In the return play, Taulava drew a quick foul from Davon Harp. But the Talk N Text main man muffed his two free throws, the ball landing on the hands of Red Bull’s Nelson Asaytono. The Thunder then sued for time with only 3.4 ticks remaining and mapped out a final play that led to Pennisi’s game-winner.
It was the first win in two games for the Thunder in the pre-season series worked out by the PBA for the 10 competing teams. Red Bull lost to Alaska Milk last Wednesday. The loss, on the other hand, was the first for the Phone Pals after a previous victory over the Milkmen.
The Phone Pals, coming off a team-building goodwill series in Australia, led most of the way and posted a couple of 12-point leads with the last at 61-49 midway in the third period. The Thunder struggled in the early going due to poor shot selections and poor execution.