In a game marked by several twists and turns, the Paint Masters teetered on the brink of collapse after losing an 11-point lead early in the fourth in the face of Toyota’s bristling attack that saw it tie the count at 64-64 with 1:42 left.
Najorda, a 6-foot-4 forward, showed by why he was named NCAA MVP two years ago by launching a three-point bomb – a move that surprised everybody, even coach Caloy Garcia.
But the ball swished neatly with 50 seconds left, enabling Garcia and company to heave a big sigh of relief.
That basket rattled the Knights so badly that the usually dependable Ronjay Enrile committed a passing error in the ensuing play that sent Jay Coching to the line. Coching split his charities but Enrile missed a desperate three-point shot in the next play that all but decided the game.
Coching, slowly emerging as the team’s hatchetman, topscored for the Paint Masters with 19 points which he spiked with five triples. Fil-Am Anthony Washington redeemed himself from a so-so show last time by chipping in 16 points.
With the win, the Paint Masters, who also got solid game from Marvin Ortiguerra, gained a share of the lead with idle Montaña Pawnshop at 2-0. Ortiguerra finished with nine points, including a big trey in the final quarter.
In the first game, Magnolia Ice Cream barged into the win column in style by drubbing a hapless Negros Navigation-San Beda, 83-52.
Exploiting their height advantage to the hilt, the Wizards needed only big quarter to bounce back from a stinging 63-62 defeat at the hands of Toyota Otis-Letran and slap the Red Lions their second straight blowout loss in the tournament which they are using to toughen themselves for the coming NCAA wars.
Scoring in spurts behind the savvy plays of Denok Miranda, Arwind Santos and Mark Isip, the Wizards took a 42-22 halftime advantage which they padded to 74-39 early in the fourth as coach Koy Banal’s shock troopers joined the scoring fray.
To the surprise of everybody, seldom-used Don Yabut shared the scoring honors with Miranda with 10 points each. The 6-foot-8 Yabut also grabbed four boards and had an assist in 15 minutes of play.
Coach Koy Banal had even the luxury of using all his 15 players with only Jeff Chan failing to buy a single basket.
