Rence Nocum shines as Marinerong Pilipino survives EcoOil La Salle to draw first blood in D-League Finals

Rence Nocum led the Mapua-bannered Marinerong Pilipino squad against EcoOil La Salle, 72-67, to draw first blood in the finals of the PBA D-League on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Nocum dropped 22 points in the game to spoil La Salle's attempt for a comeback and push Marinero a win from the D-League crown.

Trailing by four with 13 seconds remaining, Evan Nelle connected from beyond the arc to cut their deficit to just a single point with 8 seconds left. With fouls to give to slow the game, EcoOil La Salle used up all of it until a foul on Jollo Go brought him to the line where he shot 2-of-2 to extend their lead back to three.

Nelle tried to salvage the game with another three-point attempt that went in but failed to beat the shot clock. Arvin Gamboa's charities off a Mike Phillips foul sealed the deal for Marinero.

Marinero were up 33-23 at the end of the first half before La Salle went on a 29-point rampage while limiting the former to just 18 to end the third period at 52-51, in favor of the Taft-based squad.

Former La Salle player Jollo Go notched 15 points and 8 rebounds while Arvin Gamboa tallied 16 markers. Juan Gomez de Liaño had 14 boards on top of his 9 points and 7 assists.

Schonny Winston had 21 points, while CJ Austria added 15 in the La Salle loss. Mike Phillips had a game-high 16 rebounds to add to his 7 points and 3 assists.

Game 2 of the best-of-three finals will be played on Wednesday.

—JMB, GMA News