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| Kenny Rocacurva saved the day for Binan with a crucial steal. LA Arcin |
BINAN--Biñan held on at home despite a hot shooting from JR Quinahan as the team took down Cebu, 81-78, in their MPBL showdown on Thursday night at the Alonte Sports Arena.
Up 70-54 after the third quarter, the Tatak Gel found themselves in trouble of dropping a stunner against the Greats as the road team, with its stretch big taking over in the fourth, cut the lead down to one, 74-73, with 3:38 left.
However, Cebu struggled to take the lead from Biñan, and Carlo Lastimosa hit back-to-back jumpers to up the lead back to four, 79-75, with 43 seconds to go.
Quinahan kept the Greats in the game with a three-pointer with 28 seconds left, while Lean Martel stole the ball off Pamboy Raymundo's pass to give them one last shot to steal the win.
However, Kenny Rocacurva swiped the ball from behind Paul Desiderio, and Jaymar Gimpayan essentially iced the game with two free throws with one second left.
With no timeout left, Jan Jamon was left with no choice but to throw a prayer from beyond halfcourt that did not even touch the backboard as the clock struck zero.
Rocacurva and Lastimosa each had 16 points, while Gimpayan and Renzo Subido added 10 each, with Gimpayan also grabbing 13 rebounds for Biñan, which snapped a three-game slide to move up to a tie with Rizal and Muntinlupa for fifth place in the South Division at 10-7.
Quinahan finished with 31 points, outscoring the entire Binan squad by himself in the fourth, 15-11, behind a 13-of-23 clip from the field, including 3-of-7 from deep, two rebounds, and two assists to lead Cebu, which dropped to 4-14, four games behind Imus for the last spot in the play-in round.
Mark Meneses added 14 points, 18 rebounds, two assists, three blocks, and one steal.
The top six teams per division will qualify outright for the playoffs, while the next four will undergo play-in games to determine the last two first-round spots.
The other games saw Marikina pip Parañaque, 92-87, behind a 29-point explosion from Deo Timajo and Pampanga withstand Sarangani, 95-85.
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