La Salle Green Hills wasted an early lead but recovered just in time to hack out an 82-79 win against San Sebastian College-Recoletos in the NCAA Season 100 juniors basketball tournament on Monday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre.
The Greenies squandered a 12-point lead in the first quarter then erased a 13-point lead by the Staglets after a wild turnaround in the payoff period to open their campaign on a strong note.
Guillian Quines and James Ison led the way with 22 and 20 points with the latter also grabbing three rebounds, six assists, and a steal to power the Renren Ritualo-mentored squad.
But it was Gian Gomez who saved the day for the Greenies after scoring 12 of his 13 total output in the fourth quarter, which LSGH ended with an 11-5 closing run.
Down 72-71, Gomez first sank two free throws before unleashing a floater that saw them taking a 75-73 lead. Ison and Arle Podador then converted in the next plays as big man Ram Sharma sealed it with a one-handed dunk in the final 43 seconds.
In other games, Arellano University dominated Jose Rizal University while San Beda University survived Emilio Aguinaldo College in overtime.
The Braves used a huge third quarter to pull off an 85-69 win against the Light Bombers with Ray Susi and Shawn Vergara each dropping 15 points while Sean Franco poured in all-around showing with 12 markers, eight boards, three steals, and two assists.
Closing out the five-game bill was a 77-75 overtime escape of the Red Cubs against the Brigadiers behind two clutch baskets from MJ Vailoces.
The Red Cubs found themselves down 75-71 in the extra period before Vailoces came alive and knocked down a jumper while an Andrei Ugaddan basket allowed San Beda to tie things up.
Vailoces then passed through two defenders to complete a layup that would serve as the game-winning basket for the Red Cubs.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
