Henkel Sista nearly blew a 22-point lead in the third quarter lead and went scoreless in the last five minutes but still pulled off a 75-72 victory over Burger King in the 2007 PBL Unity Cup at the Olivarez Sports Center in Parañaque yesterday.
Fil-Am Ryan Reyes came through with two defensive gems down the stretch and the Super Sealers hung on to pound out the scrambling victory, their fifth in 11 games.
The Super Sealers thus moved to within a win from gaining a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals
“We need this kind of win into our last game. We had the tendency to relax when we are up ahead by a big margin and we can’t afford it against Dazz,” said Henkel Sista mentor Caloy Garcia, referring to their assignment.
“We had many lapses for this game. But the good thing was we were able to hold our composure in the endgame,” he added.
Reyes had a lot to do with that after dishing off another all-around performance with a team-high 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Semifinalist Cebuana Lhuillier foiled Toyota Balintawak’s bid for a twice-to-beat edge in the quarterfinals as it hacked out a 78-76 win in the second game.
The Roadkings rallied from a 38-53 deficit to make it a two-point contest in the final nine seconds, but Patrick Cabahug missed on a potential game-winning three pointer at the buzzer.
The Moneymen regained the solo lead at 9-2 overall, half a game ahead defending champion Harbour Centre (8-2).
The loss dropped Roadkings into a tie with Henkel Sista (5-6).