Leo Avenido got a passing mark in his coaching debut.
The 38-year-old with years of experience in the Philippine Basketball Association and Asean Basketball League made two free throws with 3.1 seconds left to lift Gamboa Coffee Mix past Zark’s Burger, 85-84, on Thursday at the start of the PBA Developmental League Foundation Cup at the Ynares Arena.
“I’m not Jawo,” offered Avenido in jest referring to PBA icon Robert Jaworski. “But the task was given to me and I did my best to do it. It’s good we won.”
Avenido scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half and his presence on the floor lifted the confidence of the Coffee Lovers, who trailed for most part of the game.
“My players’ morale was low in the first half, but good thing was they got their bearing in the second half,” Avenido said.
Ken Acibar finished with 17 points and Jens Knuttel had 12 for the Coffee Lovers, who trailed by as many as 13 points early in the second quarter.
It was a tough loss for the Jawbreaker, who had a slow start but slowly picked up their rhythm. They built several double digit leads but blew it away because of poor shooting in the fourth.
Rob Celiz led all scorers with 26 points, including two free throws, that gave Zark’s Burger an 85-84 lead with 26.1 seconds left.
After a timeout, the Coffee Lovers missed on four attempts before Marcy Arellano cornered another offensive rebound that led to Avenido’s heroics.