By: Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Down 7 points with three minutes left in the final canto, the Iloilo United Royals mounted a comeback to force overtime courtesy of some timely baskets by Escoto and newly-acquired big man Jerson Prado. With momentum on their side, the Royals pulled away with Escoto pouring in 7 points in the extra frame.
Iloilo struggled with their shot all game, highlighted by Al Francis Tamsi shooting an inefficient 2 of 12 from deep and 4 of 18 overall.
Exacerbating things is Imus’ big man Justin Arana, using his 6’7” frame to deny and intimidate the Royals’ frontcourt while bullying them on the other end with easy put backs and dump offs.
Iloilo however managed to keep things close by crashing the offensive boards. The team outhustled Imus on the glass to the tune of 33 offensive boards compared to just 8 by Imus leading to a big disparity in rebounds, 70 – 42.
Prado, only playing his second game with the team, was a revelation and provided much needed size inside. His hustle on the boards resulted in him getting easy looks and trips to the foul line where he was an excellent 5-7.
In the OT period, the veteran poise of Iloilo was in full display, slowing the game down and being deliberate with their executions.
It was all Escoto in OT, first draining a wide open three off a Jeruta post-up, then banking a tough runner off the left elbow as the shot clock was winding down that put Iloilo up 72-69 with 45 seconds left to play.
Escoto finished with 20 big points, 9 rebounds, 1 dime, and 1 steal.
Scores:
Iloilo- Escoto 20, Prado 11, Publico 11, Tamsi 11, Arambulo 7, Jeruta 5, Gumaru 5
Imus- Arana 17, Morales 12, Nacpil 10, Helterbrand 10, Munsayac 9, Ng Sang 7
