Dynamic Metals gain quarterfinal seat

In a night of 4th quarter comebacks, Dynamic Metals upset ESJ Centre 79-75 while Appliance Centrum/LA Gasoline Station squeaked past Fox Shox 104-103 in the penultimate day of elimination round of Class B of the 13th Tan Kek Pin Memorial Basketball Cup at TTHS Po Hang Gym.

The victory by Dynamic Metals and Appliance Centrum forced a triple tie with La Filipina Trading at 3-4 for the last two spots in the quarterfinals.

Rey Pandoro nailed a free throw with 1.2 seconds left to complete a 4thquarter Centrum/LA Gasoline comeback.

But it not was enough to put Centrum through the quarterfinals, owing to a lower goal average compared to La Filipina and Dynamic Metals who notched the No. 5 and No. 6 spots, respectively.

Peter Paul Ortaliz and Rey Pandoro combined for 23 points in the 4thquarter to rally LA Gasoline from a 10-point deficit.

LA Gasoline Station took a 56-51 halftime lead against a Fox Shox team who showed up with 5 players only.

Nico Yap with 14 points and RJ Iligan with 11 points led Centrum at the half, even as John Paul Tan scored 15 points, Michael Ang had 14 points and Devin Villacruz delivered 12 points for Centrum.

Shox sizzled offensively in the 3rd quarter, surging ahead 84-74 as Ang sunk 3 triples for 13 points and Brian Ong added 7 points.

Ortaliz paced Centrum with 24 points, Yap added 21 points, Pandoro shot 19 points, RJ Iligan scored 14 points, Chua 10 points and Glenn Yee 8 points.

Ang had a game-high 35 points, Villacruz picked up 22 points, Tan made 19 points, Ong delivered 14 points and Marc Lo chipped in 13 points.

Meanwhile, ESJ Centre missed a golden opportunity to nab the top spot with the loss, dropping to No. 4 in the standings.

Dynamic, with their backs against the wall, overcame a 61-56 3rd quarter deficit to pull out the crucial victory with a balanced offensive sparked by Franklyn Madrid’s 9 points.

ESJ looked like it was going to have an easy night as it coasted to a 28-12 lead, as Caesar Noble, Badong Eufre and Keith Banzon scored 8 points each.

But Dynamic refused to back down, as Madrid and Chibon Uy scored 8 points each and Joseph Tiu added 6 points to catch up with ESJ at 41-all by halftime.

ESJ regained the lead 61-56 with a balanced contribution led by Vincent Javelosa and Berto Uysang with 5 points each.

Madrid finished with 19 points, backstopped by Uy with 16 points, Johnnyson Yu 12 points, Tiu 10 points, Julius Teruel and Brian Tan with 7 points each.

Eufre paced ESJ with 20 points, Banzon and Uy tallied 11 points each, Noble netted 10 points and Javelosa had 8 points.

No. 1 Foodman and No. 2 Mang Inasal both ended up with 5-2 win-loss slate and automatically advanced to the semifinals.

The quarterfinals will resume on April due to gym unavailability, with No. 3 JKT (4-3) going up against No. 6 Dynamic Metals and No. 4 ESJ Centre (4-3) tangling with No. 5 La Filipina Trading.

TKP Class A championship will wrap up with a new schedule on Sunday at 4 pm WNU Gym between UNO-R A Davies Philippines and CSA-B Choi Sportswear. (Stephen Tan-Contributor)