Giant Pandas escape Dyip for second straight win

MANILA, Philippines — The Macau Giant Pandas have strung together back-to-back wins after escaping the Terrrafirma Dyip, 96-92, Wednesday evening at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila. 

Macau trailed by as much as 15 points in the game, but clutch plays by Kobey Lam down the stretch helped the Giant Pandas squeak past the gritty Dyip squad. 

De’Vondre Perry powered the guest squad with 34 points, to go with 14 rebounds, two steals and two assists. Damian Chong Qui had 29 markers, while Lam produced 12 off the bench. 

“We knew that this is one of the games that if we're gonna make the playoffs we have to get these next few games, or you know, still a couple of them. So I think it's big for our confidence,” Macau head coach Marcus Elliott said. 

“We've got another week off before we play again. So now it's just trying to keep our stuff fine-tuned and until we see if we're healthy as you can see.” 

After trailing by 15 earlier in the game, Macau dropped a 29-14 third quarter to push themselves ahead, 72-68, heading into the fourth quarter. 

The two teams, then, traded buckets as the lead swung like a pendulum. 

A jumper by Justin Strings pushed Terrafirma ahead, 92-90, with 1:38 remaining. 

Perry equalized with a floater, 92-all, with 44.6 seconds to go. 

And, after a steal by Lam on Mav Ahanmisi, he hit an and-one transition layup to give his squad the edge, 94-92, with 10.2 ticks to go. 

Lam, though, missed the layup, but he was able to track it down and give it to Chong Qui, who was subsequently fouled with 4.1 seconds left. 

Chong Qui hit both, and Juami Tiongson tried to tie things up with a 4-pointer but it missed everything. 

Strings had 34 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Dyip. Ahanmisi backstopped with 20, while Tiongson had 15.  

Macau has now won two straight games after absorbing four straight defeats in the import-laden conference. Terrafirma dropped to an identical 2-4 slate.