Mustangs foil UNO-R Rams in OT

The West Negros University Mustangs needed an overtime to tame the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos Rams, 97-91, and kept their dominance over the three other collegiate teams in the 1st LNA7 Collegiate Invitational Basketball Tournament yesterday at the WNU Gym.

Led by Rushmore Catalino with 24 points, the NOPSSCEA defending champions capitalized on their experience to turn back the Rams in extra time as they scored five straight unanswered baskets after regulation ended at 80-all.

Relentlessly pursuing the Mustangs in the final minutes after trailing by 12 points at halftime, 39-27, the Rams closed the gap and cut the lead to a point, 79-78, on a Joemel Paderog’s triple with 36 seconds left in the fourth quarter.