Ford rallies past ACD in OT

THE Ford Academy of the Arts rallied past Assumption College of Davao (ACD) in overtime, 81-68, and booked a finals berth in the 3rd Royal Mandaya Cup held at the Genesis 88 Gym Sunday.

Ford trailed by as much as 12 points in the third quarter but was able to chip the lead to eight coming into the fourth. Ford won the seriersat 2-0.

ACD extended the lead to double digits early in the fourth yet again. Ford, however, pulled off a surging rally late in the final period to cut the lead to 1, 61-60.

Robi Nayve of ACD had a chance to extend the lead to 3 with two free throws but only sank one out of two to wound up with a 62-60 lead with 4.5 seconds remaining.

Ford had no timeout remaining so it had to bring the ball down all the way from half court. The ball ended up at the hands of Ford's Philip Yaco who converted an open layup to beat the buzzer and send the game into overtime, 62-all.

There was no looking back then for Ford in the extra period as they forced ACD to commit costly turnovers and ill-advised shots resulting to a 19-6 run for the Bambie Santander-coached Ford.

Yaco led Ford with 22 points while Louie Batoon added 21. The Holy Child School of Davao (HCSD), meanwhile, closed out their best-of-three series against Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU) by cruising past the latter, 94-70. Vincent Fernandez exploded for 32 points to lead HCSD to the finals.

The titular showdown will be played during the 27th Kadayawan sa Dabaw Invitational Basketball Tournament which fires off August 28 at the Almendras Gym Davao City Recreation Center.

The event is sanctioned by Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and organized by the Royal Mandaya Hotel under executive vice president Glenn Escandor.