Montana earns outright semis berth

Gary David scored 15 of his 23 points in the final quarter, including the game-clinching triple in the last 28.1 seconds, as Montana snatched a 62-61 win over Viva Mineral Water yesterday to secure the last automatic semifinal slot in the Sunkist-PBL 2003 Unity Cup at the Pasig Sports Center.

The victory sent the Jewelers to the semifinal round along with Hapee Toothpaste and John-O while relegating Viva to Pool A with LBC-Batangas and Welcoat Paints. ICTSI, Nutri-licious and Blu Star, on the other hand, will battle each other in a single round in Pool B.

Sharing the spotlight with David is Topex Robinson who posted the conference’s first triple double feat. He scored 10 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and dished off 10 assists.

It was the second semifinal stint for the Arman Quibod-owned franchise in their five-year stint in the PBL. They barged into the semis in the 2001 PBL Challenge Cup where they also wound up third overall under the helm of former coach Leo Isaac.

David actually struggled three fourths of the way where he scored only eight points as Viva kept a 48-41 lead after three quarters. But he caught fire in the fourth, scoring the team’s last 11 points.

With Montana trailing, 51-54, David rifled in a triple to tie the count then later buried a jumper and another triple to wrest the upperhand, 59-56, with 2:16 remaining in the contest.