IN A sensational fourth-quarter bounce back, Ganzberg overturned a nine-point arrears into a heart-pounding 69-68 win over Pate 310 in the last of the four matches featuring in Saturday’s action at Beeline Arena in the Cambodian Basketball League sponsored by Western Union and Coca-Cola.

A strong third-quarter performance by Pate, who had pulled off an upset win over top-ranked CCPL Heat last week, had given the side a distinct advantage going into the last few minutes of the game, but Ganzberg raised their scoring rate to a level which matched their combined efforts in both the second and third terms.

The result of this resurgent run for Ganzberg was that the Sergio Rodriguez-inspired side caught up with and passed Pate to beat the buzzer. The victory, which helped the team break free from successive defeats, was built around Rodriguez’s contribution of 20 points.

Taing Phegkoy with 22 points had given Pate every chance in the game until they faded out in the last few strides.

Meanwhile, Alaxan FR Patriots scaled the top of the rankings with a convincing 81-58 win over the Post Buffaloes. Though Aimar Sabayo’s 13 points showed up as the top score for the Patriots, almost everyone taking to the court chipped in to keep the score-board ticking.

The Patriots were always the better of the rivals and at no stage did they feel threatened. Kosal Khiev’s 23 points from the Buffaloes’ burning deck was the lone voice of defiance as the Patriots averaged 20 points per quarter.

The Buffaloes' only bright spot in the whole game was that they managed to score better than Patriots 16 to 14 in the second quarter.

Led efficiently by Fred Babida’s all-round court craft, Extra Joss Warriors had NSK Dream well covered in their 75-65 victory.

After a somewhat even first quarter, the Warriors exploded in the second 27-9 to build up a sizeable lead and never quite loosened their grip thereafter. Babida was Warriors chief architect with 16 points while NSK response was led by Sok Pagna (15 points)

The all-Cambodian Sela Meas recorded a blowout 61-41 win over the Phnom Penh Dragons, with Peng Daravuth top scoring with 19 points for the winners.

A combined 16 points from both sides in the second quarter made it one of the slowest scoring patterns so far, but Sela Meas closed out strongly after the third quarter had been a dead even 16.