Defending champion BBC needed another strong endgame performance from reigning MVP Rodney Buñol to hack out a thrilling 76-74 win over Bad Boyz last night at the start of the 7th Tan Kek Pin Cup Memorial Basketball Tournament in Bacolod City.

Buñol led the charge with 17 markers but his last basket with 9.6 seconds left proved to be the saving grace for BBC at the Po Hang Gym of Bacolod Tay Tung High School. Renren Lacson missed a triple as time expired, allowing BBC to escape with the narrow win. Only 10 of its 18 players suited up for Bad Boyz but they surprisingly made a tight contest out of it all throughout with the third quarter ending at 55-all.

But the West Negros College-based quintet showed it had so much gas left in its tank, taking a 74-72 lead with 1:22 left on Rico Cabatu's jumper, before David Lacson tied it up at 74 at the one minute mark.

Buñol, however, had the last say and his lay-up finally rescued BBC from an upset so early into the 16-team tournament.

Cabatu backstopped Buñol with 16 points, while playmaker Bobot Divinagracia and Lemuel Unabia, who also plays for the WNC football squad, contributed 9 and 8, respectively.

Erson Isuga paced Bad Boyz with 16 points. R. Lacson and Jake Catanghal, a former volleyball varsity star at the University of St. La Salle, had 9 each, while D. Lacson and Rodel Claro finished with 8 apiece.

TROUBLE-FREE WIN

Talisay also broke into the win column, following a trouble-free 96-83 win over BIR Rentas Knights in the second game.

Oscar Aquino, Tonton Belicina and Bryan Alunan scored in double figures in a balanced offense that left Rentas trailing by as much as 20 points in the second quarter when Talisay's offense started to heat up.

Marlon Dayuday single-handedly tried but failed to salvage the game for the Knights, who has found difficulty getting past the elimination phase of this tournament in the past few years.

Dayduday powered his way to a game-high 31 points in the second half, including 22 in the fourth quarter. The TBAC lead, however, proved too tough to overcome.

Aquino had 12 points, while Belecina and Alunan poured 11 each. Also coming through with significant numbers were Ricardo Silva and Lorenzo Solinap, who combined for 14 points.

Dayuday was unable to get enough scoring support with only Blair Bracamonte the other player scoring in double figures for the Knights with 10 points.

Province of Negros Occidental and Davies Paints-Probac are playing as of press deadline. *CPT

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