Granny takes cream off Magnolia

Ardy Larong came through with crucial plays in overtime as Granny Goose Tortillos shocked Magnolia Ice Cream-Far Eastern University, 68-64, yesterday to seize the lead in the PBL Open Championship at the Araneta Coliseum.

In the other game, Welcoat Paints unleashed a telling second-quarter run and demolished ICTSI-La Salle, 69-51, for its second win in four starts.

A rookie out of University of San Jose de Recoletos in Cebu City, Larong strung up six of his 15 points in OT and had a key defensive gem in the waning seconds, helping the Tortillos improve their record to 3-1.

"Gusto lang namin patunayan sa mga taga-Maynila na kaya din namin mga taga-probinsya na maglaro sa PBL," said the 23-year-old Mabini Comval, Davao native, who honed his skills playing in Cebu leagues.

"He’s still a little bit inconsistent but I know he can come up with big plays if he puts his heart into it just like what happened in this game," said Granny Goose coach Jun Tan, who also coached Larong at USJR.

Toti Almeda also played well offensively, netting 14 points although defense proved to be the biggest key in their upset of the 2004 Unity Cup champion.

Granny Goose made franchise highs of 55 rebounds and 11 blocks with Abraham Santos accounting for 10 boards and another Cebuano rookie Joseph Quiñahan five blocks.

"Our game plan is to play man to man defense and pressure them from start to finish and it worked wonders for us," said Tan.

Arwind Santos, who hit a triple in regulation that forced OT, led all scorers with 21 markers but could not get the job done in the extra time as the Wizards fell to a second straight loss against two wins.