Andrei Armenion drilled in a corner jumper with 0.6 seconds left to lift the Valenzuela Classics past the Pasay Voyagers, 86-85, on Monday in the MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Sixth Season at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
Completing its comeback from a 59-69 deficit after the third quarter, Valenzuela raised its record to 7-6 in the round-robin elimination phase of the 29-team tournament.
Fil-Am CJ Payawal also played a key role for Valenzuela, sinking 3 triples in the fourth quarter, the last pushing the Classics ahead, 84-83, with 1 minute and 3 seconds to go.
Warren Bonifacio scored on a layup to give Pasay back the lead with 49.7 seconds remaining, but the celebration turned out to be short-lived as Armenion stole the show.
Payawal wound up with 20 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, while Darell Manliguez posted 15 points, 14 assists and 4 rebounds to earn best player honors. Christian De Chavez also delivered for Valenzuela with 11 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.
The Voyagers, who dropped to 7-5, drew 22 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds from Laurenz Victoria, 16 points and 12 rebounds from Warren Bonifacio, 15 points and 4 assists from Alejandro Inigo and 14 points plus 6 rebounds from AJ Coronel.
Earlier, the Marikina Shoemasters banked on Joe Gomez De Liano and Eric Joseph Pili to thwart the Bulacan Kuyas, 95-91.
Although Marikina led throughout, the Shoemasters needed to repulse Bulacan’s repeated assaults in the second half behind Kristan Hernandez and Nino Ibanez to tally only their second victory in 12 starts.
De Liano fired 26 points and Pili added 24 to neutralize Hernandez’s 23-point output, 19 coming in the last 20 minutes, and Ibanez’s 16, including 11 in that period.
De Liano added 4 steals and 2 assists while Pili added 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.
Other Shoemasters who shone were RR Casajeros and Adzhar Udjan with 10 points each and Jethro Escoto with 10 rebounds, 10 assists, 4 points, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
Bulacan, which dipped to 2-11, also got 16 points from John Cayno Carandang and 15 from Jason Celis.
The MPBL goes to the FPJ Arena in San Jose, Batangas, for the first time on Tuesday. The games pit Mindoro against Pangasinan at 4 p.m., Negros against Quezon City at 6 p.m., and Binan against Batangas at 8 p.m.
