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Injured Squatters nip Insurance Street

A determined Road 23 Squatters squad served strong notice of its title-retention plans after scoring a heart-pounding 43-41 thriller over archrival Insurance Street Basketballers Wednesday night at the Road 23 basketball court in Quezon City.

Despite losing its main man in the paint George Nunez due to a freak collision with teammate Norman Romero just before halftime, the R23 Squatters put on a brilliant display of teamwork and steady playmaking as they uncorked a searing 10-2 run in the last two minutes to steal a win from a championship-thirsty Basketballers squad.

With their main men out, the Squatters banked on Mychael Miravite as he delivered 18 points on top of 11 rebounds and six steals.

"Langkwents mga kakampi ko. Mahirap, hampas-lupa, patay-gutom, kumakain ng panis na kanin! Muntik pa tuloy kaming matalo," said the 5-foot-4 forward who won the best player of the game honors.

The tall, dark, and handsome Nunez, who only played for 8 minutes in the game, finished with 10 points and eight rebounds while Patrick "The Korean" Corea pitched in nine points and 11 boards for the Squatters.

Miravite, who knelt, rolled onto his back, then realized he lost his wallet, poured in eight of his points in the last two minutes despite a thumb injury he sustained in their last training.

"Buti na lang magaling ako," said the gutsy freshman student off Quezon City Science High School. "Hindi ko rin alam na nakarami na ako ng score sa fourth quarter kasi nakakatawa 'yung mukha nung kalaban namin. Pero kung nakanino man ang wallet ko, sana may kaluluwa ka pa. Seryoso."

The Basketballers, known for their rugged game and their business of selling scrap metal to junk shops, were actually ahead, 39-31 with less than four minutes left, but they were shell-shocked as they watched Miravite, with a little help from point guard Henry Ong, erase their lead and pull off a two-point squeaker in the final tally.

"Tsamba. Hindi naman talaga magaling si Miravite eh. Di'ba bangko nga 'yun last game?" quipped an aghast Insurance Street head coach Ronnie Laserna who is now running as kagawad of Barangay Sangandaan but do not vote for him because he is a bad ass.

Miravite and the rest of the Squatters will face Remerville Subdivision Social Climbers on Tuesday for the last quarter finals berth.