By Ivan Saldajeno
TANAUAN--He may have a villainous surname as per current issues, but Jorey Napoles played hero for TIP on Monday.
Behind Napoles, TIP's Cinderella run in the PCCL continued after a comeback victory over UV, 59-53, at the FAITH Indoor Sports Arena and Activity Center.
Thanks to him, the Engineers, the reigning ISAA champions, rallied from a late seven-point deficit and immediately eliminated the Green Lancers, the CESAFI runners-up who entered the PCCL playoffs as the Vis-Min regional champs.
With TIP down, 40-47, early in the fourth quarter, Napoles scored six straight points to spark a crucial 9-0 run to give his team the lead, 49-47, with 5:08 left. Ike Akrupu capped the rally with a go-ahead three-point play.
Steve Akomo scored on a field goal to tie the game one last time at 49-all with 4:57 left in the match, but his opponents mounted another 6-1 run to open a five-point gap, 55-50, with 38 seconds remaining.
Alfred Codilla kept the game interesting with a triple with 33 seconds on the clock, but TIP scored four straight charities to secure the victory.
Napoles finished with 13 points, 15 rebounds, and two assists for the Engineers, which will face off with defending national champions San Beda Red Lions in the knockout quarterfinals on Tuesday at the FilOil Flying V Arena.
Jun Manzo led the Green Lancers with 19 points and six rebounds, while Akomo nearly had a rare rebound-block double-double with 14 boards and eight swats along with five markers.
TIP won despite making only 25.9 percent of its shots and dishing out only 13 assists, a far cry from its brilliant performance against LNU on Sunday.
But like the LNU game, TIP forced UV, which only had three assists the entire match, to 24 errors.
The UV loss left USC as the remaining CESAFI team in the PCCL playoffs. USC currently plays NU as of posting.
Box Scores:
TIP 59-Napoles 13, Ibañes 11, Tumalip 10, Benavides 8, Namocatcat 5, Akrupu 5, Okuronkwo 3, Roldan 2, Alcober 2, Lara 0, Alvarado 0
UV 53-Manzo 19, Codilla 12, Santillan 9, Arong 6, Akomo 5, Suerte 2, Soliva 0, Segumpan 0, Cabañero 0, Napao 0, Aguirre 0
Quarterscores: 15-17, 31-30, 40-45, 59-53
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