MPBL: Batangas, South Cotabato headed to decider

MANILA, Philippines — Batangas sped away in the third quarter and withstood South Cotabato's final assault to prevail, 81-79, late Monday to force a Game 3 decider in the 6th MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Season South Division playoffs at the Batangas City Coliseum.

Trailing, 40-41, the Batangas Tanduay Rum Masters clustered 16 points, including two triples by Jong Baloria, to seize control with 6:24 left and held the wheel until the end of Game 2.

With Philip Paniamogan canning two free throws, the Rum Masters built their biggest buffer, 60-44, and went on to avenge their 76-87 loss to the Warriors in Game 1 of their best-of-three semifinal series.

Earlier, the Quezon Huskers called on Judel Fuentes to repel the Paranaque Patriots, 76-69, and advance to the South Finals via a two-game sweep.

Fuentes pumped in 10 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter as the Huskers duplicated their 75-62 victory in the series opener.

Now, all the Huskers need to do is wait for the winner between the Rum Masters and the Warriors in the sudden death slated at 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 7, at the same venue.

South Cotabato crept to within 74-80, but MHJ Dela Virgen drove in and Baloria added a free throw to decide the outcome, 81-74, with 36.6 seconds left.

Christian Fajarito then scored for South Cotabato. After Batangas' Levi Hernandez missed two charities with 6.5 ticks to go, Warrior JP Calvo drilled in a buzzer-beater triple for the final count.

Hernandez posted 15 points, seven rebounds and two blocks to clinch the Daily Fantasy Best Player honors over Baloria (14 points, four assists, three rebounds and two blocks) and Paniamogan (13 points and four rebounds).

Other Rum Masters who delivered for Coach Cholo Villanueva were Dawn Ochea with seven points and seven rebounds; CJ Isit with seven points and four assists; and Cedric Ablaza with six points, six rebounds and five assists.

South Cotabato got 13 points and five rebounds from Nico Elorde, 11 points plus two rebounds and two assists from Jervy Cruz; 10 points and three rebounds from Kyle Tolentino; and 10 points plus nine rebounds from Jammer Jamito.

Calvo wound up with eight points, four rebounds and three steals; Val Acuna with eight points and two rebounds; and Game 1 star Christian Fajarito with eight points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Showing why he's licensed to shoot, Fuentes made 10-of-18 field goal attempts, highlighted by a 5-of-11 performance from the 3-point zone, and added three rebounds to earn the Daily Fantasy Best Player honors.

Fuentes was the lone Husker in twin digits, with Jason Opiso and team skipper Gab Banal contributing eight points each and Alvin Abundo chipping in seven, all in the first half.

Banal also posted seven rebounds and three assists while Opiso grabbed four rebounds as the Huskers held the rein for 37 minutes and 27 seconds.

The Huskers, powered by Fuentes' 10 points, Abundo's seven and Banal's six, led at the break, 40-34, negating the 15-point performance of Patriot JP Sarao and the nine-point output of Jielo Razon.

Sarao tallied 26 points, eight rebounds and two steals; Razon with 15 points plus four rebounds; and John Uduba nine points plus 10 rebounds.

With Philip Manalang also snaring 10 rebounds and Kristan Hernandez pulling down nine, the Patriots outrebounded the Huskers, 45-37. They were, however, hampered by a poor 31.6% field goal shooting (18 of 57) against their rivals' 27- of-62 attempts for 43.5%.

Quezon Coach Eric Gonzales attributed the Huskers' success to "collective effort" by the players, coaches, management and the team owners led by Quezon Gov. Helen Tan.