FIL-AM DJ Mitchell drilled in a deep corner triple while Carl Bryan Cruz canned two charities in the last 39 seconds to lift Manila past debuting Caloocan, 69-66, on Tuesday in the MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Sixth Season elimination round at the San Andres Sports Complex.

In other thrillers, Davao Occidental nipped Bacolod, 72-71, while Quezon Province tripped Pangasinan, 72-68.

Manila SV Batang Sampaloc trailed most of the way, the last at 64-66 with 39 seconds left when Caloocan Batang Kankaloo bunched six points.

A pressure-free Mitchell, however, responded to the challenge with that go-ahead jumper before Cruz sealed Manila’s third win in four games with the free throws only 1.6 seconds to go.

Cruz tallied 18 points, 6 rebounds. 2 assists and 2 blocks to earn best player honors over Mitchell, formerly of US NCAA Division I school Hartford, who posted 12 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals.

Other major contributors for Manila Coach Gabby Severino were Enzo Navarro with 11 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds plus 1 steal, and Pao Javelona with 10 points, 6 assists and 2 rebounds.

Caloocan was hounded by poor free throw shooting, making only 6 out of 15 tries as Antonio Bonsubre flubbed all his 5 attempts, including two in the dying seconds.

In contrast, Manila made 11 of 16 charities and went 12 of 30 from rainbow territory, surpassing its total of 11 2-pointers.

The Batang Kankaloo got 12 points and 3 rebounds from veteran Gabby Espinas, 11 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals from Jeramer Cabanag and 10 points plus 5 rebounds from Reil Cervantes. Bonsubre finished with only 4 points but had 10 rebounds.

Terence Tumalip poured 8 of his 11 points in the fourth quarter to power Davao to an even 1-1 slate. His explosion complemented the 12-point, 8-rebound effort of Kelly Nabong and the 12-point, 7-rebound output of Arth Dela Cruz.

Bacolod tumbled to 1-3 despite drawing 11 points each Tricky Dyn Peromingan, Danny Marilao and homegrown Miles Canal, and 10 points from Jacob Galicia.

Torres finished with 16 points and 4 rebounds.

The scores:

First game

Quezon (72) — X.Torres 16, Funtes 12, Sandagon 12, Gonzales 9, Gozum 6, Gravera 4, Minerva 4, Matillano 3, Opiso 3, T.Torres 3, Salonga 0, Lagrama 0, Abundo 0, Canon 0, Marasigan 0.
Pangasinan (68) – Gabo 18, Bautista 11, Melencion 8, Javillonar 8, Daquiaog 7, Mabulac 7, Meneses 5, Tolentino 2, Robin 2, Gania 0, Poole 0, Taganas 0, Villamor 0, Gabriel 0, Calaguio 0.
Quarterscores: – 25-17, 40-35, 52-51, 72-68

Second game

Davao (72) – Dela Cruz 12, Nabong 12, Tumalip 11, Manzo 9, Olayon 6, Ighalo 6, Lojera 4, Gamalinda 3, Andrada 3, Koga 3, Martinez 2, Enguio 1, Mancao 0, Arana 0, Campo 0.
Bacolod (71) – Marilao 11, Canal 11, Peromingan 11, Galicia 10, Sedillo 8, Casinillo 7, Galit 4, Manalang 4, Espanola 3, Sabellina 2, Solomon 0, Pastias 0, Ubalde 0, Pardo 0, Partosa 0.
Quarterscores: – 17-17, 30-35, 48-54, 72-71.

Third game

Manila (69) – Cruz 18, Mitchell 12, Navarro 11, Javelona 10, Hanapi 5, Tempra 4, Al-Hussaini 3, Escandor 2,Jamon 2, Umali 2, Cuya 0, Manalang 0, Flores 0, Gonzaga 0, Battaller 0.
Caloocan (66) — Espinas 12, Cabanag 11, Cervantes 10, Inigo 8, Lee Yu 6, Bonsubre 4, Matias 4, Palencia 3, Calahat 2, Sanga 2, Lasco 2, Casin 2, Sumoda 0, Gonzales 0, Tayongtong 0.
Quarterscores: – 14-19, 27-31, 41-27, 69-66.