MANILA – Christian Balagasay scored on a game-winning layup as Petron-Letran Knights cruised to a 91-90 escape over St. Clare College Virtual Reality Saints in the 2019 PBA D-League on Tuesday at JCSGO Gym in Cubao, Quezon City.
After seeing its lead of 20 points turned to a 90-89 deficit, the Knights was able to get back on top on a layup by Balagasay from a pass by Jerrick Balanza with 13 seconds remaining.
The Knights sealed its near collapse when Saints guard Paul Santos’ baseline hit was nullified by an offensive charged on his teammate Junjie Hallare with 1.7 seconds left in the match.
Alvin Pasaol started off hot with his 10 first quarter points to guide the Knights to a 31-11 advantage before dropping eight of the Petron-Letran’s last 11 points to finish with 28 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.
Balanza also churned out a solid 22 points and five rebounds, while Jeo Ambohot added a double-double with his 11 points and nine rebounds and Jeremiah Taladua fired 11.
With the victory, the Knights has claimed solo third place in the Aspirants Group at 5-2, while the Saints slid down to fourth spot at 4-2 win-loss slate.
Meanwhile, Chadao-FEU Tamaraws continued its rise in the Foundation Group after a 71-63 victory over Wang’s Basketball Couriers. The Tamaraws cruised to 4-3 while Couriers slid to 3-3./PN
