Oracle trips Cobra, nears PBL title tiff

MANILA, Philippines - Oracle Residences recovered in time to turn back Cobra Energy Drink, 78-73, and take a step closer to the championship in the 2009 PBL PG Flex Unity Cup yesterday at the San Juan gym.

The Titans built a 73-56 lead midway in the fourth quarter but lost their bearing towards the end, enabling the Energy Warriors to close within 73-76 behind Paul Lee and Patrick Cabahug.

The Energy Warriors actually had the chance to tie the count following another miss by the Titans but Orlando Daroya missed a three-point attempt.

Oracle’s VJ Serios sealed the victory with two foul shots with 13.6 seconds left as the Titans completed their back-to-back victories over the Energy Warriors in their best-of-five semis series.

Rico Maierhofer had another double-double outing for the Titans, scoring 14 points and hauling down 12 rebounds.

Earlier, Fil-Am Chris Ross put in another triple-double performance as he powered Pharex past Licealiz, 82-73, to even their own side of the series.

Ross came through with 20 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in 38 minutes as he keyed the team’s telling run in the third to get back at the Hair Doctors, who took the series’ opener, 83-72.