MOALA Tautuaa made a good account of himself but Abel Galliguez stole the show with another standout performance, as the Cagayan Valley Rising Suns survived the CaféFrance Bakers, 89-84, in double overtime on Thursday in the Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League Aspirants Cup at the Ynares Arena in Pasig City.
Galliguez, a 5-foot-9 guard out of John Brown University in Houston, Texas, made the difference in a tightly fought match, scoring eight of his 13 points in the second overtime to power the Rising Suns to its fourth straight victory that kept them tied for the lead with idle Hapee.
“I got an opportunity to get in in the second overtime and, luckily, I made some shots,” said Galliguez, who scored 22 points in leading the Rising Suns to a come-from-behind 79-76 win against Cebuana Lhuillier last week.
Galliguez capped his standout performance with a rare four-point play and a running shot off the glass that put Cagayan Valley ahead to stay, 84-76, with 1:38 left in the second overtime.
The 6-foot-7 Tautuaa, a US-born Filipino-Tongan and fresh from a stint in the Asean Basketball League (ABL), struggled in his much-awaited debut but still finished with a game-high 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting in 40 minutes of play.
“The game here is very physical. It’s very different from the ABL and I’m not used to being pushed in the back. But I’ll adjust in due time,” said Tautuaa, who also had seven boards and three assists.
Cagayan appeared to have the victory all wrapped up when Randy Dilay hit a three-pointer that gave the Rising Suns a 67-61 lead with 48 seconds left in regulation. But the Bakers closed the period with a 6-0 run to tie the game and forced overtime.
Jonar Huertas came off the bench and scored 19 points for the Bakers, who fell to a 3-1 (win-loss) record.
Joseph Sedurifa contributed 15 points while Rodrigue Ebundo and Alfred Batino each scored 13 points and combined for 27 rebounds for Café France.
Alex Austria scored 11 points and his only 3-points attempt with 0.3 seconds left in the first overtime tied the game at 76-all and forced a second extra period.
In the first game, Kevin Ferrer and Mar Villahermosa came off the bench to combine for 27 points and the Cebuana Lhuillier Gems snapped a two-game skid with a 77-57 romp over Tanduay Light.
The Gems were in control the entire game, pulling away late in the second quarter with a 10-0 burst. Cebuana led 38-23 at halftime and posted their biggest lead at 71-42 late in the fourth en route to its second win in four games.
The Rhum Masters(1-3), which played without head coach Lawrence Chongson, picked up its third straight defeat.
Image credits: PBA Image