MANILA, Philippines - La Salle hit six straight points in overtime as it repulsed National University, 81-74, to bounce back into contention in the FilOil Flying V Hanes Pre-Season Invitational Cup at the Flying V Arena in San Juan yesterday.
Almon Vosotros fired 17 points, including a crucial three-point play in the extra period as the Archers posted a 77-72 lead en route to the victory, their second against the same number of losses in Group A.
‘’It’s the plays that we made in overtime. I thought we executed well enough to escape with the win,” said La Salle coach Dindo Pumaren.
The Archers scored the first six points in overtime but Bobby Ray Parks countered with four of his own before Vosotros took over and bailed La Salle out of trouble.
The Bulldogs, so impressive after racing to four straight victories, closed out their elims round campaign with three losses in row.
Parks finished with a game-high 29 points and hauled down eight rebounds.
Rookie Norbert Torres added 15 points and seven rebounds for La Salle, which forced overtime on a Sam Marata triple.
In the second game, University of the East hacked out an 82-79 victory over Mapua to notch its second straight victory for a 4-4 card.
Paul Zamar scored half of his game-high 24 points in the final period to backstop the Red Warriors, who moved up to fourth place in Group B.
UE trailed, 53-55, entering the final quarter but Zamar sparked a big 16-4 blitz with a seven-point binge with BJ Zosa capping the run with a triple with 6:46 left as the Warriors took a 69-59 lead.
‘’We’re down majority of the way but we found a way in the fourth quarter to get the win,’’ said UE coach Jerry Codiñera.
The Cardinals fell to fifth with a 3-3 record.
Zosa added 17 points for UE while Roy Sumang had 11 points.
Allan Mangahas led Mapua with a double-double job of 20 points and 12 rebounds.