Hapee makes triumphant return, cops D League crown

MANILA, Philippines -- Hapee Fresh, a ball club with a dominant reign in the defunct PBL, celebrated a triumphant return in Philippine basketball Thursday with reserve guard Scottie Thompson striking unbelievably on the defensive end at the finish to lift the team to a 93-91 overtime thriller over Cagayan Valley for the coveted crown in the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena.

With the Fresh Fighters resigned to playing a deciding Game Three, Thompson came up with three defensive gems, saving the day for the Hapee team that teetered on the brink following the exit of their key players one after another.

Almost all of Hapee’s main men were gone when Thompson rose to the occasion and played the hero’s role as the Fresh Fighters completed a two-game finals sweep of the Rising Sun for an amazing title run marked by just one loss.

Inside the last 25 seconds of a gut-wrenching and nerve-wracking battle, Thompson pulled off two steals and a block at the buzzer that sent the capacity crowd in the Pasig City playing venue to frenzy.

The well-fought championship game boiled down to the last second of overtime play, and the Fresh Fighters pulled through as Thompson swatted away Celedonio Trollano’s make-or-break 15-foot jumper from the left flank.

“I was already looking ahead, getting ready for Game Three, then Scottie saved the day for us,” said Hapee coach Ronnie Magsanoc.

“It’s a lost ball game, then Thompson came up with an unbelievable effort,” added Magsanoc, now a champion coach both in the collegiate (with San Beda) and in the semi-pro league.

“Coach egged us to keep the pressure, and me myself was surprised with what happened,” said Thompson, the reigning NCAA MVP serving as mere back-up to Ray Parks and Garvo Lanete at Hapee.         

Thompson played extended minutes in this game as Parks went down with a dislocated shoulder just a minute into the game, Troy Rosario limped off the court with an injured ankle with over a minute left then Lanete cramped out towards the end.

Ahead at 91-89, the Rising Sun gained a chance to put the game away as Moala Tautuaa grabbed the defensive rebound following a missed jumper by Baser Amer with less than 25 seconds left to play.

Thompson, however, struck like a thief in the night in soaring to steal Tautuaa’s lob pass to point guard Alex Austria. Then he scored on a breakaway layup as Hapee moved ahead, 92-91, with 21 ticks left.

From a time-out, Thompson made another steal off Austria right in front of the Cagayan Valley bench then scooted down court but decided not to drive straight to the basket, instead getting to the line off a foul by Austria himself with 9.6 ticks left.

“I thought there’s no more time left so I was thinking to just dribble it away,” he said.

He missed both charities, but Ola Adeugun snared the defensive rebound and also got a trip to the line with 6.6 ticks to go.

Adeugun canned in the front-end of his charities but missed the second one, giving Cagayan Valley a chance to salvage the game.

But Thompson won’t allow it, foiling Trollano’s shot.

The Perpetual Help star in the NCAA finished with 11 points, five steals, four rebounds and three assists in 29 minutes of action.

Lanete and Rosario paced the team with 22 and 20 markers, respectively.