RAYMART Escobido threw up a prayer of a floater that got answered with 2.2 seconds left to lift Team Khalifa past the reigning champions EGS, 113-111, in a double-overtime thriller in the Sinulog Cup 2024 on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, at the Cebu City Sports Institute.
Escobido’s deuce capped off his incredible 30-point performance that gave Team Khalifa their second win in this competition that is being backed by the Sinulog Foundation Inc.
Tied at 111-all after EGS’ Shaquille Imperial converted a layup with eight seconds to go, Team Khalifa got the ball to Escobido, who dribbled up the floor before taking off a step inside the three-point line and making a difficult floater to put his team in front,113-111, with 2.2 seconds remaining.
EGS had a good shot at stealing the win, but Imperial’s three-pointer went awry as time expired.
It was a sorry loss for EGS as it appeared they had the inside track on the victory as they led 109-104, after a bucket by James Ferraren and a triple by Imperial, with 2:44 to go in the second overtime.
But Team Khalifa did not waver and answered with seven straight points courtesy of a triple by Rev-Rev Diputado and layups by Jiesel Tarrosa and Barkley Ebona for a 111-109 advantage.
Elmer Echavez had 20 points and 15 rebounds for Team Khalifa, while Jaybie Mantilla stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and five steals. Diputado had 13 points and nine dimes, while Joel Lee Yu chipped in 12 markers and eight assists.
EGS got 25 points from Ivo Salarda and 24 markers from Imperial.
