MANILA, Philippines - Benedict Fernandez came through with back-to-back triples in the last three minutes as Oracle Residences rolled to its third straight win with a 92-84 victory over Pharex in the 2009 PBL PG Flex Unity Cup at the Ynares Sports Center in Pasig yesterday.
The Titans bucked a poor start and overcame a 15-point deficit in the second quarter then outscored the Bidang Generix, 27-17, in the last period to complete the win, their third in a row in the short but tough classification round of the season-ending tournament.
Fernandez underscored Oracle’s torrid shooting in the fourth quarter where he scored seven of his 13 points that helped the Titans pull off the come-from-behind victory.
Mark Barroca and Chris Timberblake also played big roles in the team’s fourth quarter surge, chipping in four points apiece.
Timberblake topscored for the Titans with 16 points, including nine in the first half that brought the team back into the fight. Barroca finished with 12 points and two assists, including a spectacular behind-the-back pass to seldom-used Jason Nocom that made it 87-80 for Oracle.
Though he was elated with the clutch shooting of Fernandez, also his player at Far Eastern University, Capacio credited much of the team’s early success to his players’ never-say-die attitude.
In the second game, Cobra Energy Drink bounced back from a crushing defeat to Oracle last Thursday with a 74-70 win over Licealiz.