THE DEFENDING champions Mortaflex subdued yet another title contender as they beat the Megacryl500, 55-53, in a hotly-contested match in the Architects + Engineers Basketball Association Davies Paints Cup on Saturday night at the University of San Carlos gym.
Barely two weeks after downing the newly crowned United Architects Basketball Club rulers mBio-Fresh+, Mortaflex faced off against a Megacryl500 squad that a few months ago, bested them to claim the Corporate Cup crown. With bad blood boiling between the two teams, it all came down to a deciding play and reigning league MVP Ed Macasling delivered it in ruthless fashion.
With the game tied at 53-all and the second ticking down, Macasling drove hard down the left flank and lofted a floater that found nothing but the bottom of the net for a 55-53 Mortaflex lead, time down to 2.9 seconds left.
However, Megacryl did not give up and threw the ball inbounds to Loreniel Tequin who got tangled up with Mortaflex big man Alfred Calumba to draw the foul. With 0.9 of a second left, Tequin however, succumbed to nerves and missed both freebies to give Mortaflex the thrilling win.
Macasling finished with 18 points to lead Mortaflex to the victory.
In other matches, Sun & Rain tied Mortaflex at the top with a dominant 86-60 win over Skimcoat. Ferdinand Tiro scored 17 while Josephril Partosa added 14.
Bio-Fresh also bounced back with a 68-55 win over Elastogel Extreme. Ayi Armenion had 17 while Bong Gabison pitched in 16.