PLATINUM Karaoke overcame tremendous adversity to barge into the winners' circle in the PBA 3x3 Season 2 Third Conference.
Battling through injury and fatigue, the gutsy Platinum quartet of Nico Salva, TH Tumalip, Brandon Bates and Yves Sazon rallied to a pulsating 17-15 overtime victory over Cavitex in a thrilling finale to rule Leg 5 Sunday at Robinsons Las Pinas.
Sazon hit the tying two-pointer then knocked down the clinching deuce in extra time to complete Platinum's glorious fightback from 14-9 down and rise as the latest leg winner of the conference after San Miguel Beer, TnT, Barangay Ginebra and the Braves themselves.
Salva sustained a sprained ankle during Platinum's 21-18 over the Tropang Giga in a semifinal game that drained Tumalip so much he had to be given supplemental oxygen before plunging into action in the leg championship.
"It was a no-tomorrow game so we left it all out on the floor," said Bates, who provided the pick that gave Sazon the opening to fire the game-winner from deep.
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"Pagod na pagod. Pero ang sarap manalo, ang sarap mag-champion," said Tumalip as Platinum celebrated victory again and banked P100,000 after topping the fourth leg of the Second Conference.
Sazon fired eight points while Tumalip added four, Bates three and Salva two as Platinum continued the different-winner-per-leg trend of the season-ending tournament.
Cavitex's Jorey Napoles (six), Bong Galanza (five), Dominick Fajardo (three) and Tzaddy Rangel (one) settled for runner up honors worth P50,000, their failure to close out dooming their back-to-back bid.
The Tropang Giga joined Platinum and Cavitex in the podium after edging Meralco in the duel for third, 21-20, behind the winning layup of Samboy de Leon. TnT netted P30,000. (OL)
