Toyota Otis zooms past TeleTech

Toyota Otis uncorked another strong finishing kick to complete a stirring fightback from 23 points down as it turned back TeleTech, 82-80, yesterday to seize solo second spot in the PBL Unity Cup at the Olivarez Sports Center.

Fil-Am Joe Devance fired 27 points, including the go-ahead basket down the stretch that sealed the Sparks’ sixth victory in eight games to close in on leader Montaña, which paces the field with a 6-1 (win-loss) slate.

The former University of Texas-El Paso — a Division I school — standout also had nine rebounds.

Boyet Bautista, who powered the Sparks to a come-from-behind 68-67 victory over Granny Goose Thursday, got the rest of the job done, scoring a season-high 16 points, including 12 from behind the arc.

More importantly, the spitfirish Bautista set up Devance in the closing seconds of the match for the clincher.

"I don’t know what happened, but I’m happy that we didn’t give up," said Toyota Otis coach Louie Alas.

In the other game, Granny Goose overpowered Hapee Toothpaste-PCU, 66-54, to notch its fourth triumph against the same number of setbacks.

The Teeth Sparklers fell to their fifth defeat against three wins.

It was the fourth straight game that the Sparks rallied after trailing by 20 points or more. They won three, including two over the heavily favored Jewels and Snack Masters.

On the other hand, it was a sorry loss for the Titans, who led by as many as 23 points, 49-26, early in the third period only to disintegrate in the clutch in the face of the Sparks’ torrid run. TeleTech reeled to its seventh loss against a win.

After a spirited chase, the Sparks finally caught up with the Titans at 75-all on a breakaway lay-up by Bautista.

JV Casio and Jojo Duncil had a pair of foul shots each to knot the count anew at 77-all but a Devance basket and a Bautista free throw shove the Sparks to an 80-77 advantage.

Ariel Capus faked off Jireh Ibanez for a long trey that tied the score for only the fourth time in the game at 80-all before Bautista and Devance finished off the Titans with their drive-and-draw play.