NO. 5 seed Dumaguete leaned on Ronald Roy and Jaybie Mantilla to stun fourth-ranked Tabogon in overtime 67-65 Saturday in the stepladder playoffs of the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup at the Alcantara Civic Center in Cebu.
The fiercely fought match saw players from both sides getting bruised, battered, even bloodied. In the end, it was Dumaguete that came out on top to earn the right to take on the ARQ Builders Lapu-Lapu in a do-or-die game for the last semifinals ticket.
With the count tied at 63-all in the extra session, Roy knocked in a booming triple from the right-wing to shove Dumaguete ahead 66-63 with 1:37 left. Tabogon pulled to within one 65-66 after Jethro Sombero and Harold Arboleda split their trips to the charity stripe.
The Voyagers even had a shot at taking the lead but guard Joemari Lacastesantos committed a blunder, calling a timeout when they had none, resulting in a technical foul.
Mantilla made the free throw to extend Dumaguete’s lead to 67-65 with just seven seconds left.
Tabogon still had an opportunity but Arboleda badly missed a three-pointer while Arvie Bringas flubbed his fadeaway jumper as time expired, enabling Dumaguete to score the thrilling win.
Mantilla, Roy, and Mark Doligon came up with double-double performances in the league’s very first overtime match.
Mantilla had 24 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, and four steals while Doligon added 17 markers, 10 boards, two dimes, a steal, and a block.
Roy, a 5-foot-10 guard out of Marikina, chipped in 11 points and 12 boards.
Mantilla, a former MVP of the CESAFI, said he was running on fumes after playing for 37 minutes. But he said he and his teammates need to shrug this off and move on to Sunday’s game versus ARQ.
