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VALENCIA: Host Valencia Golden Harvest held its
ground in the payoff period to hack out an 82-77 victory over
visiting Quezon Villa Anita Tuesday night in the 2007 National
Basketball Conference National Cup at the packed city gym here.
Dennis Concha knocked in 24
points, while Rocky Clavel and Nat Cruz added 17 each for Valencia,
which posted a 10-point lead in the last three minutes of the third
quarter and then withstood fierce rallies by Quezon Gov. Wilfredo
Enverga’s cagers to pull off the shocking win.
Eliazar Berami, the 2005 Rookie
of the Year, went scoreless after limping out with a sprained ankle
in the third quarter, but another Valencia rookie, Ian Saladaga,
came to the rescue by scoring 12 points.
“Puro beterano ang mga players
ng Quezon pero hindi kami natinag,” said Valencia coach Noli
Tagsip after the exciting match marked by 7 deadlocks and 14 lead
changes. “Matibay din at buo ang loob ng mga beterano ko.”
Concha finished with two triples,
four rebounds and two steals to highlight his sterling performance
in the tournament supported by Sulpicio Lines, Yahoo Philippines,
Spring Cooking Oil, San Miguel Beer, Caltex, Sun Cellular, Molten,
Nature’s Spring, Basketball TV and Viva Prince Channel.
Ex-pros Bryan Gahol had 17
markers, while Ruel Buenaventura and Leo Vilar added 12 points each
for Quezon.
The scores:
Valencia 82–Concha 24, Cruz 17,
Clavel 17, Saladaga 12, Adams 6, Bolias 4, Cesar 2, Dragon 0,
Malcontento 0, Berami 0, Maraon 0.
Quezon 77–Gahol 15, Buena-ventura
12, Vilar 12, Mendoza 8, Malonzo 8, De Guia 8, Veranga 5, Menor 4,
Gonzales 2, Agapito 2, Drio 1, Zuniga 0.
Quarters: 24-23, 42-20, 61-53,
82-77.
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