Bomber Te unloads Hail Mary trey to edge Stags

Jose Rizal banked on Wynsjohn Te’s triple at the buzzer as it stunned last year’s second placer San Sebastian, 81-79, yesterday to enhance its bid in the spirited race for the Final Four in the 80th NCAA basketball tournament at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

Down at 78-79 with two seconds to go, the Heavy Bombers called on the 5-foot-10 Te, who received an inbound pass from Lester Mark Lindaya then launched a fade-away triple over the outstretched arms of Nicole Uy and Chris Baluyot that swished through the net as time expired.

Te’s game-winner thus snapped the Heavy Bombers’ four-game skid as they posted their second win in six outings.

"Basta itinira ko na lang at nung tinira ko na, naramdaman kong papasok talaga," said the soft-spoken Te, a graduating Computer Science student on his fifth and final year as a Bomber.

Te finished with 23 points and drew big points from the troika of Marco Fajardo, McDonald Santos and Kenneth Co Yu Kang.

Fajardo, playing his first game since injuring an ankle in their first win over host Perpetual Help last month, came through with 19 points while Santos and Co Yu Kang tossed in 17 and 12 points, respectively.

Defense also played a key role in Jose Rizal’s win.

The Bombers held the Stags scoreless in the final three minutes of play as the former five-peat champions tumbled to their third defeat against the same number of wins.

In the other game, San Beda demolished St. Benilde, 84-60, for its third win against three losses. It was the Blazers’ fifth straight loss.