MPBL South semis: Quezon, South Cotabato draw first blood

MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon Huskers buried the Paranaque Patriots with a mound of points in the fourth quarter and prevailed, 75-62, Monday night in Game 1 of their South Division semifinal series in the 6th MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Season at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena City.

Held to a 50-50 count, the Huskers clustered 13 points, sparked by Gab Banal's triple and Judel Fuentes' back-to-back triples, to break away with 5:34 left and move within a win of advancing to the division finals against the winner of a similar semifinal series pitting South Cotabato against Batangas.

Earlier, the South Cotabato Warriors got a boost from Christian Fajarito and subdued the Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters, 87-76.

After Quezon's barrage, Paranaque could get no closer than 61-70 following two free throws by Jielo Razon, an inside thrust and a triple by John Umali with 1:24 left.

Flashing the form that made him the MPBL Datu Cup Most Valuable Player, Banal posted 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists to clinch the Daily Fantasy Best Player honors over Ximone Sandagon, who tallied 16 points and five rebounds and Fuentes, who fired 13 points. 

The Huskers could cut short the best-of-three tussle if they repeat over the underdog Patriots in Game 2 on Monday, November 4.

Homegrown Topeng Lagrama also shone for Quezon Coach Eric Gonzales with seven points, five assists and three rebounds.

Paranaque got 14 points plus eight rebounds from John Uduba, and 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists from Jielo Razon.

Fajarito, who played only 16 of 28 elimination round games due to nagging injuries, chalked up 20 points, seven rebounds, two assists and one steal in 22 minutes and 57 seconds to earn the Daily Fantasy Best Player honors.

The 6-foot-6 former Letran star was supported by Marwin Dionisio with 10 points and four rebounds; Jammer Jamito with nine points plus 11 rebounds; Mark Cruz with nine points plus five assists and Val Acuna with nine points plus two assists, enabling the Warriors to lead by as far as 62-43 following a 10-point cluster.

The Warriors ruled the boards, 49-39, and converted more second-chance points, 28-8, than the Rum Masters, who were hounded by poor free shooting, splitting their 22 attempts. In contrast, the Warriors canned 13-of-15 tries for an impressive 86.7 conversion rate.

Batangas drew 16 points and six rebounds from Levi Hernandez; 10 points plus seven rebounds from Dawn Ochea; and nine points, five rebounds and five assists from Jeckster Apinan.

South Cotabato bunched eight points to break free from Batangas, 45-32, late in the second quarter and never yielded the lead back.

The MPBL playoffs continue on Wednesday, October 30, with North Division games pitting San Juan against Caloocan at 6 p.m., and Nueva Ecija against Pampanga at 8 p.m. at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando, Pampanga.

San Juan bested Caloocan, 71-65, and Pampanga edged Nueva Ecija, 75-73, in the series openers and will be gunning for sweeps that would put them on a collision course for the North crown.