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Monday, February 27, 2006
Manny scores two as Pacman drops debut
ILIGAN City - Randy Panerio split his free throws with two seconds to go as Montaña Pawnshop-Davao squeezed out a 79-78 overtime thriller over PacMan-General Santos in the exciting kickoff of the Mindanao Visayas Basketball Association (MVBA) at the full-packed Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology Gym Saturday.
Boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao was in the starting five of his very own PacMan-General Santos squad, but it was Montaña forward Mark Bonifacio who earned the distinction of scoring the first two points in league history.
Pacquiao eventually provided the first and his only points via a twisting layup much to the delight of the fans.
The match, backed by ML Kwarta Padala, Panasonic and Nature's Spring Drinking Water, could have gone into a second overtime after Montaña guard Ryan Abanes hit a triple to even the count at 78, with 30 seconds to go in the extra period.
Second overtime
PacMan-General Santos flubbed its next possession and with the specter of a second overtime nearing, Panerio drew a foul off Dondon Tadena with only two seconds on the clock. Panerio calmly sank his first free throw and then missed his second shot. A mad scramble for the ball ensued as the time expired.
Earlier, Montana's Mark Legarde scored on a layup with five seconds to go and tie the count at 70 and to force the overtime.
Likewise, host Iligan City came out too strong from start to finish to ward off the visiting Pryce Pharma-Misamis Oriental, 91-88, in the main encounter.
Panerio chipped in a total of 15 points but it was Dado Ayson who topped, with Montaña scoring 16 of his 22 points in the final half.
Norberto Farochillen topped PacMan with 17 while Tadena added 15.
Alex Bognot fired 13 points in the first quarter to push Iligan to a 28-19 lead.
Later, Marvin Tundag banged in two triples and Eric Araman added eight points as Iligan took a 21-point advantage at halftime, 57-36.
Slowly, Pryce Pharma tried to get back on track behind Orville Saludsod and Jason Alfeche while Dondon Mendoza drilled in two free throws that trimmed the gap to just six, 80-86, with 40 seconds to go.
But that was the closest they could get as timely hits by Araman and three free throws by Michael Serino saved the day for Iligan.
Bognot finished with 21 while Tundag chipped in 18 for Iligan City.
Alfeche led Pryce Pharma-Misamis Oriental with 17. Gunner James Laygo shot 14 but was limited to just a field goal in the second half.
As part of the MVBA opening ceremonies earlier in the day, Pacquiao scored 14 points as he played with Mayor Lawrence Cruz and the Iligan Executives as they beat MVBA Chairman Gov. Oscar S. Moreno and the Misamis Oriental Executives in an exhibition game, 56-52.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 27, 2006 issue)
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