Sausa's last-second shot powers Uptown Jaycees past Mandaue-B

CEBU, Philippines - Dindo Sausa sank an undergoal stab off a nifty assist by Franco Te in the closing seconds of the contest to lift the Uptown Jaycees Foundation to an 85-84 nail-biter over the Mandaue Jaycees-Team B and grab the lead in the 2009 Jaycees Basketball Association (JBA) First Conference, which shifted action to the Benedicto College gym in Mandaue City.

The Uptown Jaycees of playing coach Dr. Boy Te used a 31-19 rally to turn an early 16-19 deficit into a 48-38 edge at halftime, but the Mandaue Jaycees-Team B came up with a sizzling counter-attack to wrest the driver’s seat, 84-80, with 14 seconds left to play.

In the ensuing play, Jimbo Noel hit a booming triple to pull Uptown Jaycees within just a hairline, 83-84, before Sausa made his presence felt with his last-second shot.

 Franco Te scattered 25 points, while Sausa added 23 points as Uptown Jaycees assumed the solo leadership with a 5-1 win-loss record.

Acebron charted 20 points followed by Army Marata with 15 points for Mandaue Jaycees-B, which fell to 4-2.

In the other game, the Janjan Boniel-led Zone 360 bested Arcason, 81-77, for its third win in six games.

Nino Boniel pumped in a game-high 31 points spiked with four triples for Zone 360. Kent Kangleon topped Arcason with 23 points followed by Dexter So with 15.

The scores

First game

Jaycees Foundation (85) - F. Te 25, Sausa 23, Noel 18, C. Sta. Maria 10, Yu 4, P. Sta. Maria 3, B. Te 2

Mandaue-B (84) - D. Acebron 20, Marata 15, J. Acebron 14, Flores 13, Coros 10, Cortes 6, Balbuena 2, Salimbagat 2, Cal 2

Second game

Zone 360 (81) - N. Boniel 31, Lasala 15, Go 15, J. Boniel 10, Loma 4, Trespicio 4, De Jesus 2

Arcason (77) - K. Kangleon 23, So 15, Caya 10, Z. Kangleon 10, Peña 4, Lee 4, Lim 3, Hernandez 2, Sullano 2, Tecson 2, Jumawan 2. – GGM (THE FREEMAN)