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| Pasig celebrates after winning the fourth leg of the Chooks-To-Go Pilipinas 3x3 Magiting Cup. Chooks-To-Go |
By Ivan Saldajeno
PARANAQUE--Pasig avenged its loss in the third leg final of the Chooks-To-Go Pilipinas 3x3 Magiting Cup to Balanga with a 21-18 win in Leg 4 at the SM City BF Paranaque Events Center on Sunday.
Five days cut off from a heartbreaking defeat against the same Balanga squad, Pasig dealt a heartbreaker of its own as it kept its rival from completing a comeback.
Behind the hot hands of Joshua Munzon, Pasig quickly recovered from an early 0-3 deficit to open an 11-5 lead with 6:56 left.
But just as Munzon began to slow down--and Pasig's fouls began piling up--Balanga slowly crawled back and eventually tied the game, 16-all, with 2:14.
Dylan Ababou then delivered down the stretch, burying back-to-back deuces to bring Pasig to within match point.
Karl Dehesa kept Balanga in the game with a layup with 1:16 to play, and the team had a chance to inch closer after Santi Santillan grabbed an offensive rebound off a miss.
But Santillan missed the wide open layup, and Leo De Vera fished a foul from Alvin Pasaol, leading to the dagger free throw with 52.6 seconds to spare.
Munzon finished with 12 points for Pasig, which won PHP100,000 for ruling the leg.
Chris De Chavez made six markers, all from long range for Balanga, which settled for the PHP50,000 runner-up prize.
Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno
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