Magnolia rallies to gain finals berth

Magnolia Purewater toughened its defense and then leaned on its veterans in the stretch as it carved out a come-from-behind 88-83 victory in yesterday’s sudden death to catch the last finals bus in the 2009 PBL PG Flex Linoleum Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.

The Wizards held the Energy Warriors to just four points in the final six minutes and then the frontcourt duo of Neil Raneses and Al Magpayo hit the shots that mattered to clinch a 3-2 win that nailed it a first trip to the finals in three years.

A few days after exploding for 23 points in an 83-69 win that forged the decider, Raneses had another huge effort, exploding for 24 points he spiked with three blocks, three assists, two boards and two steals while Magpayo fired eight of his 14 points in the fourth quarter to seal it.

The win thus arranged Magnolia an interesting best-of-five title showdown with five-peat champion Harbour Centre starting on Tuesday at The Arena in San Juan City.

The Mikee Romero-owned Batang Pier rolled to the finale by sweeping the Hapee Toothpaste Complete Protectors to gain a crack at an unprecedented sixth straight crown.

“It’s a good feeling playing in the finals again after three years,” said Magnolia coach Koy Banal, who steered the San Miguel Corp.-owned franchise to four championship stints including two crowns.

Bacchus had all the chances to knock out Magnolia and claim its first ever trip to the finals since returning to the league five years back but couldn’t cash on it.

Up by 12 points in the third quarter, the Energy Warriors, who had a 2-1 lead going into Games Four and Five, were sidetracked by a series of runs bridging the period and the final canto.

Bacchus tasted its last lead at 79-73 on a basket by Rudy Lingganay, a rookie out of University of the East, but a 10-0 blitz laced with a pair of booming triples by Magpayo and a key baseline jumper by Raneses crushed its hopes.

“The players showed big heart and experience too,” said Banal.