By Nazario Rodriguez Jr.
Horizon news staff

It was a lucky new uniform, courtesy of Western Union, and the PDC Rams won the longest game so far with the slimmest of margins in the 2007 season of the Filipino Basketball Association.
The Rams’ win came despite sloppy officiating as they needed two five-minute extensions to outlast rough-playing Surangel Sons, a 98-97 decision against one of the toughest teams in the league on Sunday Feb. 11 that stunned another big crowd at the Palau National Gymnasium.
The Rams knew that the double-overtime victory could be the start of a difficult climb to the top after a slow start, winning only one of four games previously and with the win they are now 2-3 but still way behind the leaders in seventh spot.
The win proved to be a team effort for the Rams against a team with players who have the tendency of showboating.
The Rams’ two Jojos – Jojo Arevalo and Jojo Marino, led the in offense with 27 and 24 points, respectively.
Erwin Igamen, who provided offense when the team needed him most in the early going, added 11, Ernest Galpito had 10 and slotman Espiritu 9.
Marino sealed the win on a putback off a missed by Galpito with 11 ticks left in the second overtime.
Surangel had the chance in two possessions before time expired but Arnold Undecino turned over the ball after the referee called a jumpball between him and Marino and gave the ball possession to the Rams.
Although, Galpito missed two free throws with eight seconds left to play, Surangel’s last gasped attempt collapsed with Undecino muffing the desperation three-pointer and Galpito rebounded as the final buzzer sounded.
But before the win came, the Rams opened a so-so game as Surangel immediately established a 24-17 first quarter lead.
But the Rams responded with a lightning rally midway in the second quarter by igniting a 19-5 blast for a 45-35 halftime advantage that ballooned to their biggest lead of the game, 53-35, with 7:15 to go in the third quarter.
However, Surangel rallied back and cut the deficit to just four, 55-59, at the end of third quarter and after both teams exchanged baskets on fastbreak plays in most of fourth quarter, Surangel even went on to take back the lead in two occasions at 72-all and 75-all behind Naguit’s triple with 21 ticks remaining.
Arevalo answered on a quick two-pointer then Undecino split his two charity shots off Arevalo’s foul and regulation time ended at 76-all.
The Rams had the chance to score an outright win but Marino missed an easy jumper while Galpito tried on a wayward shot and missed too.
In the first overtime that ended at 86-all, both teams played tough on defense and scored most of their points from the perimeter.
In the second overtime, Arevalo and Galpito scored four points each as the Rams enjoyed an eight-point lead, 94-86, before Surangel orchestrated an 11-2 run capped by Undecino’s five straight points from the stripes and his team led at 97-6 with 30.7 ticks remaining.
Arevalo missed two more from the stripes off a foul by Cruz before Marino’s marginal two-pointer and the Rams dealt Surangel its second consecutive setback of the season and the Rams showed composure amidst the one-sided calls against them by one of the referees.
In the other games, the league-leading Patriots continued their winning run by beating the defending champion Rangers, 91-79, while PRR posted its first win of the season with a 70-64 decision over Santa Fe and Samurai defeated Basty Ngchesar, 92-76.
The current standings are Patriots (5-0), ATT-Jaguars (4-1), Wass ‘up (4-1), Surangel (3-2), Rangers (3-2), Samurai (3-2), Rams (2-3), PRR (1-5), Santa Fe (1-5) and Basty Ngchesar (0-5).