MASON Amos took matters in his own hands for La Salle as he drilled the game-winning triple to take the 79-78 squeaker over University of Santo Tomas for its first win in the 19th Filoil Ecooil Preseason Cup presented by ABC Tile Adhesive on Wednesday at Playtime Filoil Centre in San Juan.
With the Green Archers staring at a 78-76 deficit in the final 18.1, Jacob Cortez kicked it to an open Amos in the corner and drilled the booming trey with 5.6 ticks to spare.
“Jacob felt that Mason was the best option to take,” explained assistant coach Gian Nazario on the game-winner.
“It’s just repetitions really,” said Amos who finished with 13 points and five boards. “The saying that I always live by is you miss 100-percent of the shots you don’t take. Even if you see one miss, just keep shooting.”
The Growling Tigers still had a shot to steal the win but Collins Akowe was forced to a bad miss with the clock dwindling.
Cortez also pumped 13 points and set the table for La Salle with six assists, as Doy Dungo sparked the second unit with 10 points for the Taft side’s first win in this tilt which has Hanes, Buffalo’s Wings N Things, Wallem, BDO, Akari, Smart, Molten, Reyes Barbecue, Nature’s Spring, Tela.com Athletics, Brothers Burger, and Don Benito’s as sponsors.
Akowe ended up with 16 points and 13 rebounds as Mark Llemit got 16 points in the loss which sent UST down to 0-2.
Jose Rizal University, meanwhile, grabbed the early lead in the NCAA Bracket after a 66-54 victory over winless Perpetual.
Lawrence Mangubat rose to the occasion for the Heavy Bombers, scoring 11 straight points to flip the game from a close 53-51 game to a 64-51 advantage with 5:12 remaining.
He would finish with 21 points, four rebounds, and four assists as JRU stayed unscathed at 2-0.
“Iba rin yung meron tayong pinupuntahan, sinasandalan,” said coach Nani Epondulan. “Good thing na Lawrence has stepped up and nakuha namin yung panalo.”
Fellow transferee Chris Hubilla nabbed 12 points and eight boards, as Sean Salvador got 10 points, three steals, and two assists.
Altas rookie Damme De Guzman was the closest to sniffing double-figures in scoring as he had eight in the loss which sent the Las Piñas crew down to a 0-2 standing.
Titing Manalili and Chad Gammad also answered the call for Letran in overtime to take the 75-71 escape from St. Benilde.
Manalili fired five of his 14 points in the extra frame to go with three assists, two rebounds, and two steals, as Gammad produced five of his 10 in the final five minutes, on top of his two boards and two steals.
Their efforts supported Jimboy Estrada’s 21 points and five boards as the Knights earned their first win in two games.
Coach Allen Ricardo, however, doesn’t want to put too much thought into this early clash between contenders, saying, “Yung Benilde, mga 20-percent pa lang yan right now.”
“Sa amin din, maraming inconsistencies pa rin and yan yung gusto naming ma-achieve para going to the season, we know how to handle those situations.”
Allen Liwag led the Blazers in the losing effort with 13 points and six rebounds, while Justine Sanchez and Matthew Jucom flanked the reigning NCAA MVP with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Lyceum of the Philippines also earned its breakthrough win, getting the better of Arellano in overtime, 82-75.
“It always feels good to win,” said coach Jamike Jarin, whose Pirates atoned for their opening day loss to Mapua. “If you look at the bigger picture, we have a lot of things to work on.”
Renz Villegas led LPU with 22 points, four rebounds, and three assists, as Matthew Rubicoflirted with a triple-double with his 14 points, nine assists, and seven boards.
John Ray Ladica carried over his impressive start as one of the Chiefs’ top rookies after scoring 15 points, while Basti Valencia emerged with 16 points off the bench in their second straight overtime loss.
