Buddies rule Liga Ilocos Sur leg

SANTO DOMINGO, Ilocos Sur – The Smart-Pampanga Buddies topped the Ilocos Sur leg of the Smart Liga Pilipinas Conference II, beating the Trace-Laguna Stallions, 82-77, in overtime at the Santo Domingo People’s Center last Saturday.

Terrell Theophile strung up five points in the extra period to give the Buddies the championship and 10 Liga Tour points. The 6-6 Theophile shattered the game’s last deadlock with a jumper, 79-77, then buried a triple to seal the victory. The Saint Gregory University alumnus went on to bag the leg MVP honors in the weeklong tournament sponsored by Smart, Accel, Air 21, Burlington, Molten, Laptop Phoneshop and Nature’s Spring and sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.

Regulation play ended at 72-all with the Stallions fighting back from a 60-71 deficit with a 12-1 windup.