Panapanaan buzzer-beater lifts JRU vs Arellano, 79-77
Games on Thursday
(Filoil EcoOil Arena)
9:30 a.m. – Mapúa vs LPU
2:30 p.m. – CSB vs San Beda
IF THERE’S A WILL, there’s a way.
And Ivan Panapanaan found one as he drilled the fastbreak lay up at the buzzer that lifted Jose Rizal University (JRU) to a 79-77 win over Arellano University (AU) on Wednesday in NCAA Season 101 at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
The JRU Bombers made a pair of defensive stops late including that miss by AU’s King Vinoya that led to a rebound by Allan Laurenaria, who readily passed it to the streaking Sean Salvador who then spotted a wide-open Mr. Panapanaan on the other side for that game-winning bucket.
“I was just thankful that until the last second, they believed that we can do it and there’s always a way,” said JRU coach Nani Epondulan.
The win sent the Bombers in a share of that critical No. 3 spot in Group B with the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights on 5-4 records.
Of course, the top three teams in the two groups will advance straight to the quarterfinals while the last two placed squads will battle it out for one of the last two seats to that round.
Shawn Argente paced the Kalentong-based dribblers with 21 points while Messrs. Salvador, Laurenaria and Stephen Garupil chipped in 19, 12 and 10 points, respectively.
But none was bigger than that massive shot by Mr. Panapanaan in the dying seconds.
While it was painful, the Chiefs could console themselves with the fact that they still remained at third in Group A with a 3-6 mark. — Joey Villar
The scores:
JRU 79 – Argente 21, Salvador 19, Laurenaria 12, Garupil 10, Panapanaan 4, Castillo 4, Herrera 3, Duque 2, Benitez 2, Peñaverde 2, Sarmiento 0
AU 77 – Hernal 17, Abiera 15, Geronimo 14, Vinoya 11, Ongotan 9, Valencia 5, Cabotaje 2, Demetria 2, Buenaventura 2, Camay 0, Langit 0, Libang 0, Borromeo 0, Miller 0
Quarterscores: 18-19; 41-37; 59-63; 79-77
