Sanchez keys Davao Occidental squeaker in PSL President's Cup

MANILA, Philippines – Justin Sanchez delivered  the game-winning basket right before the buzzer sounded to carry Davao Occidental to a thrilling 75-73 squeaker past the hard-fighting Bulacan JT Taipans in the PSL President’s Cup at the Filoil-EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

Coming off a timeout after Jason Ballesteros knotted the count for the last time with an inside stab in the final 1.2 seconds, Tigers coach Manu Iñigo designed an inbound play — a back pick for Sanchez, who found himself getting a mismatch at the post area where he was being defended by the smaller Michael Are.

Sanchez immediately received the lob pass from Winston Ynot and scored on the go-ahead basket, sending the Tigers and their supporters into a frenzy and leaving Bulacan with only seven tenths of a second to map up a play.

Without a timeout left, the Taipans inbounded from the backcourt and Kenji Roman, who received the inbound, had to take a desperation heave as time expired, allowing the Tigers to escape with their ninth win in 13 games.

The loss was a bitter pill to swallow for the Taipans, who absorbed their seventh setback in 13 games.

It was a tough win for the Tigers, who had to survive a hot-shooting night from Jonathan Gesalem, who hit nine 3-pointers out of 13 attempts.

The dead-shot swingman finished with 27 points to lead all scorers.

Earlier, Caloocan walloped an undermanned MisOr, 96-74, while Quezon edged Novaliches, 78-71.

Assistant coach Ronnie Dojillo, appointed new head coach to take over the spot of former mentor Robert Sison, immediately kept a hold of the Supremos, who got back on the winning track and bounced back string after their disappointing loss last time around against 1Munti as Caloocan improved it win-loss record to 10-3.

Quezon outlasted a gritty Novaliches side, with Judel Fuentes presiding on the team’s offense. He finished with 15 points, including three triples, as the Titans improved their win-loss mark to 11-2.