MANILA, Philippines - John Arellano made a side jumper with three seconds left then watched Kenneth Lontoc bungle his turn at the buzzer as Batang BBL-UB eked out a come-from-behind 62-60 win over B-MEG-SBC in the Nokia National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) D-League at the St. Bridget College gym in Batangas City last weekend.
The Batang BBL fought back from a 31-55 deficit behind Jonel Sangalang, Joseph Elnar and Arellano, who combined for 25 of the teams’ 27 fourth quarter points to foil B-MEG-SBC.
Arellano scored a jumper to shatter the 58-all count with 1:22 left in the contest but Lontoc made two charities to knot the count again.
Coach NR Aguda sued for time to set up the team’s final play anchored on Arellano as Batang BBL-UB posted its third win in the under-18 tournament backed by Nokia Philippines and TAO Corp. under the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.
B-MEG, which dropped to a 1-1 card, was led by KR Panganiban’s 11 points.
Smart-La Salle notched its second win in three games with a 79-66 victory over Ulam King -STC, which fell to 0-3.