Suns rise over Cafe France in double OT

Games Monday  (JCSGO Gym)

12 noon – Racal Motors vs AMA University

2 p.m. – MP Hotel vs Jumbo Plastic

4 p.m. – MJM Builders vs Bread Story-LPU
 

MANILA, Philippines -  Fil-Tongan Moala Tautuaa debuted in Philippine basketball with 26 big points but Abel Galliguez and Alex Austria took over in the clutch as Cagayan Valley overcame Café France, 89-84, in double-overtime to regain a piece of the lead with Hapee Toothpaste in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup at the Ynares Arena in Pasig yesterday.

After Cagayan Valley squandered a six-point lead in the last 51 seconds of regulation play, Austria fired a trey to force another overtime at 76, then Galliguez stepped up, scoring 11 of his 12 points in the second extra period.

Held to one point in the first 45 minutes of the game, Galliguez suddenly came out firing in second OT, preserving Tautuaa’s big numbers as the Rising Stars notched their fourth straight win.

Earlier, Mar Villahermosa, Kevin Ferrer and Allan Mangahas joined forces to power Cebuana Lhuillier past Tanduay Light, 77-57.

The Gems improved to 2-2 while the Rhum Masters dropped to 1-3.

Tautuaa, the No. 1 draft pick coming from his stint with the Malaysian Dragons in the Asean Basketball League, went 11-of-16 from the field, including a three-point conversion, and also collected seven rebounds, three assists and two steals against four turnovers in 43 minutes of action.   – Nelson Beltran