Slashers advance; Blades stop Knights

The Negros Slashers reasserted their mastery over the Cebuana Lhuillier Gems and fashioned out a 101-90 victory in a fight-marred game yesterday to advance to the finals of the first phase of the MBA season in Cebu.

A change in venue and a hostile crowd failed to dampen the spirit of the fired-up Slashers, who dominated their rivals in the second half to sweep their best-of-three semifinal series.

But the Slashers victory was marred by a punching incident with less than five minutes before the end of the second quarter as Cebu’s Willy Mejia hacked Leo Bat-Og with a hard foul then planted an elbow in the Negros forward’s chest.

Bat-Og retaliated by punching Mejia in the face, nearly triggering a bench-clearing brawl. The two cagers were ejected.

Five Slashers scored in double-digit figures with Cid White firing 21 points and John Ferriols and Dennis Madrid tossing in 19 points apiece. Johnedel Cardel had 17 while Reynel Hugnatan chipped in 10 points for the defending Southern Conference champions.

Earlier, the LBC Batangas Blades lived for another day as they humbled defending champion Andok’s San Juan Knights, 77-69, to force a sudden death in their semifinal series at the San Juan Gym.

The Blades, who dropped an 82-94 loss at home last Friday, surprised the hosts with a stirring run sparked by Alex Compton in the first quarter as they built a big lead that the Knights failed to overcome at endgame.

The streak-shooting Compton hit it from all angles as the Blades came up with a 17-0 run to turn a 4-6 deficit into a 15-point lead in the first quarter.

From there, the Blades never looked back and thwarted every Knights attack, including a big charge at the onset of the last quarter that brought the hosts back to within three points, 58-61.

Chris Calaguio and Bruce Dacia combined for San Juan’s 16 points bridging the last two quarters while the Knights held the Blades to just two free throws, courtesy of skipper Peter Martin, to put the hosts back in contention for a sweep of the series.

But the Blades recovered their bearing and hung tough with Ralph Rivera keying a 7-1 run that gave Batangas another 68-59 lead.

Meanwhile, MBA top player Romel Adducul said the members of the national team are ready to face any sanction that might be imposed on them by MBA Commissioner Gregorio Narvasa if they continue to defy a recent board decision disbanding the team that is supposed to see action in next month’s SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.

Adducul, skipper and spokesman of the team that won the SEABA title last March in Manila, said nothing – not even fines or suspensions – can stop them from playing in the SEA Games where the Philippines has emerged champion since 1991.

"Kung ayaw niyang pumayag , di tanggalin niya kami," Adducul said. "Hindi naman siguro mahirap intindihin na para sa bayan ito. Kung pera lang ang habol namin, hindi kami magtiya-tiyaga sa national team dahil walang pera dito. Abonado pa nga kami pero okay lang."

The issue cropped up last Thursday after Narvasa learned that the same lineup was forwarded to the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games organizers. This forced the MBA to issue a statement saying that the league had already disbanded the team and that its players have been recalled by their mother squads.