Cebu likewise stepped up its game in front of its cheering fans in the fourth quarter as it repulsed Negros, 104-96, in Game One of their best-of-five duel for the Southern Conference crown.
The Knights and the Gems seek to move in the threshold of the national finals as they clash with the Metrostars and the Slashers in Game Two of their respective playoffs today.
Egged on by their highly partisan supporters, the Knights turned to playing tough defense when their offense sputtered in the payoff period, salvaging the victory that gave them the decisive headstart in the series.
Topgun Christian Calaguio was in his usual fiery form, firing a game-high 20 points but the Knights needed to stop Manila’s one-two punch of Alex Compton and Romel Adducul in the final canto as they quell Manila’s uprising, thus keeping their home-court edge over the defending national titlists.
Down by two after three quarters, the Gems unloaded an 18-3 bomb with blue-chip center Homer Se chalking up eight points at the paint and Roy Lura and Stephen Padilla scoring a triple each to break the game open at 92-83.
Johnedel Cardel pushed the Slashers to within six points at 88-94 but the visiting team crumbled with ace slotman John Ferriols suffering a suspected fractured thumb on a freak accident.
For the second straight game, Arnold Gamboa led Cebu’s charge with 22 points with Padilla, Mike Manigo and Lura adding 18, 16 and 13, respectively.
"No question, the key was our defense. We took Compton out of their game in the fourth quarter and that killed them," said San Juan coach Philip Cezar.
True enough, the Knights clamped down on Compton in the last period, holding the Fil-Am guard scoreless after making 15 in the first three quarters of play.
Adducul tried to carry the scoring load for Manila but the task proved tough with the 6-foot-6 slotman facing San Juan’s triple tower combination of Bonel Balingit, Rafi Reavis and Omanzie Rodriguez.
Still, Adducul paced the Metrostars with 18 points, and he could have scored more if not for his woeful 4-of-14 free-throw shooting.
The Knights took charge early and led by as many as 19 points, 50-31, in the third quarter.
But the Metrostars refused to give up easily, coming back into the game at 65-74 behind Compton, Adducul and Peter Martin.
That was before the Knights said enough is enough, putting the cuffs on Compton.  Joey Villar