Ironmen outlast Meteors to rule TOP 2nd leg

GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Pari Llagas and PJ Barua scored 20 points each as Cobra Energy Drink recovered from a 24-point deficit to beat Misamis Oriental in overtime, 92-85, and rule the second leg of the Tournament of the Philippines at the Lagao gym here. The Meteors caught the Ironmen flatfooted early with their dazzling run-and-gun plays, scoring the first 18 points of the game before coasting to a 47-23 lead with two minutes left before halftime. Just as everybody thought the Ironmen were already goners, the Asia Brewery franchise came charging back behind the power moves of Llagas and the sniping of Barua to post the biggest comeback win so far in the two-week tournament organized by the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) and Liga Pilipinas. The 6-foot-5 Llagas scored mostly off drop passes by former University of the East teammates Elmer Espiritu and Rudy Lingganay to help Cobra in securing 10 points for winning the Gensan leg of the event. "It’s all heart," said Cobra coach Lawrence Chongson. "I'm glad that they were able to respond even when we were down by a huge margin." Llagas came away with 18 points in the second half and overtime combined to finish with 20 points along with eight rebounds. JR Tecson added 14 points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting from rainbow country. Espiritu, who was adjudged as the Most Valuable Player of this leg after a superb showing, scored just six points but had seven assists and three blocks while Lingganay, the leg's Best Assists awardee, had seven points, nine rebounds and six assists. Barua and Tecson conspired to hit six of the team's 10 treys in the fourth quarter as the Ironmen erased a 77-67 deficit with 2:59 to go and tied the game. Ronald Lamocha hit a putback, 23 ticks left to put MisOr back in the lead but Espiritu issued a perfecta pass to Llagas, who scored over big man Mark Andaya to even things up at 79-all and eventually force an extension. Patrick Cabahug, who played for Cobra in the previous PBL conference, registered 19 points while Khiel Misa added 15 points in a losing cause. The Meteors collected seven points in this leg to tie idle Ascof Lagundi for third place in the standings. Earlier, host MP Pacman Gensan, secured third place by beating Treston Laguna, 77-73. - RCJ, GMANews.TV