Fil-Am late trey stalls Magnolia

Fil-am Josh Vanlandingham came through with a triple with 3.2 seconds left as Hapee Toothpaste foiled Magnolia Purewater’s outright semis bid with a 76-73 win yesterday in the 2009 PBL PG Flex Linoleum Cup at the San Beda gym.

The Complete Protectors blew an 18-point lead in the third quarter as they lost top gun Jeff Morial to injury. But they put their act together down the stretch and went to Vanlandingham, who buried that triple to shatter the 73-all count and lift the team to the victory.

The 6-foot-2 Vanlandingham received a handoff pass from Earn Saguindel before hitting the triple that gave Hapee its fifth win against the same number of losses in a tie with Bacchus.

The Wizards had a chance to send the game into overtime but Leomer Losentes’ own three-point attempt went way off the mark.

 “The last play was really intended for Josh (Vanlandingham). He really bailed us out with that shot,” said Hapee coach Gee Abanilla.

Ahead 61-43 late in the third, the Complete Protectors lost their momentum when Jeff Morial, a rookie out of St. Benilde, sustained a cut on his right cheekbone after he was accidentally hit by Yuri Escueta’s wayward elbow in an inbound play.

From there, the Wizards slowly worked their back into the game and forced the deadlock in the closing seconds.

Alfie Grijaldo paced the Lamoiyan-owned franchise with 12 points, six rebounds and three steals while Jervy Cruz had 11 points and nine boards.

In the second game, five-peat champion Harbour Centre, which clinched the first semis spot as early as last month, rode on a big fourth quarter run to beat Burger King, 93-82, and firm up its hold of the top spot with a 9-1 record.

The Stunners tumbled to their seventh setback against three wins.