Compton the man for Sunkist

Simply awesome.

Alex Compton fired 31 points in yet another awe-inspiring performance yesterday to power Sunkist-UST to a heart-rending 101-94 overtime win over the faltering Montaña Pawnshop and into a playoff in the PBL Platinum Cup at the Pasig Sports Center.

Just two days after leading his team to a scary victory over ICTSI-La Salle, Compton displayed once again his deadly shooting touch from way beyond the 3-point arc and resilience no other player in the league could match as Tigers rolled to their third straight win and sixth overall in 10 games, giving them an inside track for one of the semis berth.

For the win, the Tigers are now already assured of a playoff for the last semis berth while the Jewels have to win at least three of their last four games to advance into the next round as they slipped to 4-4.

It was vintage Compton from the very start as he came through with one booming shot after another, and at the same time, hit the open man with razor-sharp precision to finish with a near triple-double performance.

Aside from his impressive 8-for14 shooting from the three-point zone and 2-for-3 from the two-point region, Compton, who has been knocking at the PBA door, grabbed 11 rebounds and issued eight assists in 39 minutes of action.

But his biggest shot for the day was a quick turnaround trey from the sideline with barely 10.4 ticks that sent the game into overtime and the crowd into frenzied celebration.

The Jewels had the chance to win the game in overtime but Letran star Ronjay Enrile forced his way inside heavy traffic and lost the ball to the baseline.

That was the end for the Jewels as Jemmal Vizcara and BJ Santos conspired in a telling 7-0 run at the start of overtime and then Compton completed a three-point-play at the time of another Montana comeback to seal the win, 95-88, with 1:52 remaining.

Vizcarra also had fine moments, finishing with a career-high 28 points as he made five of 10 tries from the trifectaville. He made 9-of-17 tries from the field aside from grabbing three rebounds and issuing two feeds.

In all, the Tigers converted 18 triples against only 10 for the Jewels.

With the Tigers hitting from almost all conceivable angles, they raced to a commanding 51-27 lead late in the second quarter but they lost that huge lead as

Garry David and Enrile joined hands to cut Sunkist’s lead to just 70-62 going into the final quarter.

A bristling 8-0 run enabled the Jewels to wrest the lead for the first time as they surged to an 80-76 lead.

David paced the Jewels with 24 points but was held scoreless in the extra five minutes, a victim of Compton’s pesky defense. Enrile added 19 points but his last two turnovers proved costly for his team.

Meantime, Welcoat Paints nailed down the first semis berth by outclassing Blustar Detergent, 71-62, in a win that boosted its title-retention bid in a tournament the Paint Masters won by a sweep over Fash Liquid Detergent (formerly Hapee) last year.

With James Yap and Jercules Tangkay presiding over Welcoat’s smoldering attack in the second quarter, the Paint Masters took an imposing 41-27 halftime lead and then thwarted Blustar’s repeated rallies late in the final quarter to post their seventh win in 8 starts.