MANILA, Philippines – Yvan Ludovice saved Sarangani from certain death and the Marlins used the opportunity to subdue the GenSan Warriors, 79-77, in overtime Tuesday night in the OKBet-MPBL 4th Season presented by Extreme at the packed Bacoor City Strike Gym.
Steady under pressure, Ludovice made two charities and then buried a fall-away buzzer-beater in the last eight seconds as the Marlins extended the game and went on to stretch their unbeaten run to five and keep solo lead in the 22-team tournament.
Paul Sanga and Andoy Estrella took over in extra time with three free throws and a three-point play, respectively, which proved enough for the Warriors to complete their amazing turnaround.
Down by 10 points, 62-72, with 1:53 to go, the Marlins didn't lose composure and charge right back on a drive by Estrella, a triple by Sanga and a layup by Enrique Caunan, 69-72, only 21 ticks left.
Niko Elorde split two free throws to give GenSan a 73-69, lead with time down to eight seconds, which should have been enough to ensure victory.
Unfortunately, Cristopher Masaglang committed an unsportsmanlike foul on Ludovice, which altered the course of the game and pulled down the Warriors to 1-4 instead of 2-3.
Ludovice wound up with 17 points, four rebounds and four assists; Sanga 17 points; and Estrella 16 points, three rebounds and three assists for the Marlins, who trailed by as many as 15 points, 47-62, in the third quarter.
GenSan, which is being supported by OKBet like Sarangani, was hounded by poor shooting from the 15-foot-line where the Warriors made only 8 of 16 for 50%.
In contrast, the Marlins of Coach John Kallos, drilled in 22 of 27 tries for a high 81.5%.
The other games saw Laguna Krah Asia dump Makati City, 80-49, and Mindoro finally snap a five-game skid with a 70-65 victory over host Bacoor.
The Laguna Heroes, drawing twin digits from four players, level their slate at 1-1 while the Makati MNL Kingpins fell to 1-4.
Jopet Soriano paced Laguna with 19 points, followed by Paolo Pontejos with 12 points plus 12 rebounds, and Lawrence Mallari and Darius Duane Estrella with 11 points each.
Mindoro, being supported by CDO Idol Cheesedog, drew 14 points from Marlon John Espiritu, 12 from Christian Lance Sunga, 11 from Rodel Vaygan and 10 from former Ginebra guard Tey Teodoro.
Still searching for cohesion, Bacoor got 11 points from Edsel Magisa and 10 from Mark Mantuano.
The MPBL returns to Caloocan on Saturday with a triple-bill pitting powerhouse Nueva Ecija (4-0) against debuting Quezon City at 5 p.m. Streaking teams Bacolod (4-0) and Batangas (4) clash in the featured game at 7 p.m., followed by the Valenzuela (3-2) -Caloocan (1-1) tussle at 9 p.m.