Columbian Dyip may have been down, but it showed that it is not out just yet.
The Dyip made all the crucial baskets down the stretch to pull off an impressive upset of San Miguel Beer, 134-132, in a thrilling overtime finish for a much-needed win in the 2019 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday night.
Lester Prosper, CJ Perez, and Rashawn McCarthy were all spectacular for Columbian, leading their team to the morale-boosting win.
Prosper tallied a game-high of 40 points, 27 in the first half, and 13 rebounds, while the rookie Perez was sensational as well, pouring in a career-high 34 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Dyip.
McCarthy wasn’t far behind, eking a double-double himself with 27 points and 14 assists.
Perez closed the show and sealed the win for Columbian as his tough lay-up in traffic proved to be the insurance basket, making it 134-130 for Columbian with 12.7 seconds left.
“Ibinigay namin talaga ‘yung total effort namin knowing San Miguel kalaban,” said Perez. “’Yung collective effort namin lahat ‘yung nag-lift sa amin.”
Columbian still remained in 11th place, but improved to 2-7 with two games remaining. Though slim, it still has a chance to get a playoff for a seat in the top eight.
On the other hand, the Beermen continued to uncharacteristically struggle, dropping their second straight and falling to 2-5 for 10th place.
Arwind Santos’ tough, right-elbow triple against Andrei Cahilig’s defense with 1.1 seconds left in regulation found the bottom of the net and sent the game into overtime.
Still, the upstart Dyip was able to regroup in the extension to preserve the victory.
The two teams didn’t want to give an inch as they figured in a gut-wrenching nip-and-tuck battle from the fourth period all the way ‘til the final buzzer.
However, Columbian’s big three delivered the goods everytime they were needed to keep the experienced and favored San Miguel Beer at bay.
The Beermen were led by Charles Rhodes’ team-high of 26 points and 16 rebounds.
The Dyip actually held a 14-point lead, 84-70 in the latter part of the third quarter but the Philippine Cup champion clawed back to make it a scrap in the final two period.
The scores:
Columbian 134—Prosper 40, Perez 34, McCarthy 27, Cahilig 9, Camson 9, Khobuntin 8, Corpuz 7, Cabrera 0, Escoto 0, King 0, Faundo 0.
San Miguel 132—Rhodes 26, Fajardo 24, Lassiter 19, Santos 16, Pessumal 15, Cabagbot 12, Nabong 8, Ross 7, Tubid 3, Rosser 2, Standhardinger 0.
Quarterscores: 33-26, 59-53, 88-82, 118-118, 134-132.