Close brush by Welcoat

Welcoat Paints cashed in on a costly blunder of the usually-steady Ronjay Enrile late in the game yesterday to escape with a thrilling 83-81 win over Toyota Otis-Letran and regain the solo lead in the 2004 PBL Unity Cup at the Pasig Sports Center.

With the game tied at 81-all and Welcoat’s Dino Aldeguer still plotting the team’s final play, Enrile, one of the country’s finest collegiate players these days, uncharacteristically lost his focus and fouled the veteran guard near the midcourt with barely 8.3 ticks left.

Aldeguer, who earlier missed two free throws, redeemed himself by calmly sinking the two pressure-packed charities that gave the Paint Masters some breathing space after figuring the Knights in a torrid shootout that made their game look like a championship game.

With the win, their sixth in seven games, the Paint Masters bolstered their bid to clinch one of two automatic berths in the semis while the Knights slipped to 3-3 in a tie with defending champion Hapee Toothpaste.

Though he was held scoreless in the final seven minutes, it was Jojo Tangkay who still emerged the game’s top scorer with 25 points as he made up for the anemic showing of Chester Tolomia who was limited to just 10 points, a far cry from his 18 points average in the team’s first six games.

Tangkay shot splendidly from the field, making 8-of-12 and was almost perfect from the foul line as he made all but one of his eight attempts. He also grabbed six rebounds and stole twice as he pressed his bid for the MVP award.

After Welcoat squandered several chances to pull away, the 5-foot-11 Enrile wowed the crowd when he scored on a spectacular spin that enabled them to tie the count at 81-all with still 50 seconds left.

The Knights could have grabbed the driver’s seat after Aldeguer bungled two free throws but Dennis Daa failed to control the ball after the grabbing the rebound and lost the ball to the baseline, giving the Paint Masters another chance to plot their final play. That led to two free throws by Aldeguer–big thanks to Enrile.

Actually, the Knights had the chance to win the game but Enrile’s desperate three-point shot missed its target badly.

Daa topscored for the Knights with 19 points while Enrile added 18. A big letdown for the Knights was spitfire Boyet Bautista who struggled for five points.

With Enrile and Aaron Aban connecting from long range and Jonathan Pinera and Daa controlling the boards, the Knights grabbed the lead for the first time, 35-32.

But Tolomia and the 6-foot-5 Marvin Ortiguerra hit a triple in a blazing windup to give the Paint Masters a 42-41 lead at the break. Both shots well from the field with Welcoat making 14 of 31 tries while Toyota-Letran converting 16 of 33 attempts.