Cruz sinks buzzer-beating three-point shot to save Niños vs league-leading Landmasters

Games Wednesday:
Xavier University Gym
4:30 p.m. – GenSan vs. MLKP-Cebu
6 p.m. – Mandaue vs. Laguna

Cagayan de Oro City—The Super Leg of the SMC Liga Pilipinas V could not have kicked off on a more explosive note.

The reigning national champions M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu Niños eked past the Mandaue-Cebu Landmasters/RDAK, 72-71, off an improbable three-pointer by forward Nat Cruz with no time remaining yesterday at the Xavier University gym.

The Niños of head coach Raul “Yayoy” Alcoseba showed championship poise as they shrugged off an early 12-point deficit and kept chipping away at Mandaue’s lead, which set the stage for Cruz’s heroics.

His pulse-pounding shot gave the Niños their first and only lead of the game.

The league-leading Landmasters were firing on all cylinders early on as they zoomed ahead, 16-4, in the first period behind the hot shooting of Ariel Capus, who scored half of the points of that Mandaue surge. The Niños regained their bearings and closed in at 12-18 after the first period and kept within striking distance at halftime, 29-32.

Cebu finally tied the game at 39-all, after an alley-oop by Abby Santos at the 4:50 mark of the third. However, Mandaue steadily kept their foot on the throttle as they pushed the lead back to double-digits, 49-39, after a 10-0 run that came mostly from free-throws. Mandaue eventually brought a 50-43 lead to the final canto.

The fourth period was a virtual dogfight between the two bitter rivals with neither team giving an inch, resulting in several hard fouls, including a technical foul on each squad, an injury to Cebu’s Ariel Mepana and a total of four players disqualified due to fouls.

Still, Mandaue held a four-point lead after free-throws by Arden Guiyan and Hafer Mondragon with 2:20 left in the contest. But the Niños kept their composure and crept to within one, 69-70, after three straight freebies by Cruz. On Mandaue’s next possession, Leomar Losentes misfired on a three-pointer but center Marlon Basco was able to grab the offensive board and got fouled while attempting a putback. Basco made only one with 17 seconds left to peg their lead at two, 71-69, with 17 seconds remaining.

On the Niños’ next offensive, Mark Ababon handed the ball off to vaunted shooter Stephen Padilla but the latter had other things in mind as he saw a wide-open Cruz on the left wing. Cruz then fired the game-winning trifecta that swished through the net as time expired. Cruz ended up with 15 points and five rebounds while Mepana paced the winners with 18.