Pharex turns back Excelroof for No. 1

MANILA, Philippines - Pharex B-Complex blew a 19-point lead in the second quarter but recovered in time to score a 74-68 victory over Excelroof and clinch the No. 1 spot in the Final Four in the PBL PG Flex-Erase Placenta Cup at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

Woody Co came away with 14 points and seven rebounds while guard Mark Lopez finished with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and three shot blocks for the Pharex Fighting Maroons who closed out the single-round eliminations with the best 6-1 record.

Pharex B thus gained a twice-to-beat advantage against the No. 4 team in the semis. The Excelroof 25ers finished with a 5-2 card.

“We’re No. 1 in the semis but we want to be No. 1 two weeks from now. This will be all nothing if we don’t win the championship,” said Pharex B coach Aboy Castro in Filipino.

Meantime, Ascof Lagundi, actually the main team of Pascual Laboratories, clobbered Ani-FCA, 78-65, to stay in the semis race.

The Natural Cough Busters finished the elims with a 4-3 record but will have to hope for both Cossack Blue and Cobra Energy Drink to drop their respective games tomorrow to force a three-way tie for third.

In case of a triple-tie, Ascof and Cossack will clinch the last two semis berths due to superior tiebreak scores.

Co and Lopez canned all but one of the team’s six foul shots in the last 90 seconds before Vic Manuel sealed the win with a slam at the buzzer.

The Fighting Maroons roared to a 23-4 lead behind 17 unanswered points which veteran Nestor David highlighted with a trey.

But the 25ers charged back behind Pamboy Raymundo, Jimbo Aquino and Adrian Celada and wrested the lead at 42-37 with three minutes to go in the third quarter.

The Maroons regrouped and fought back to draw level at 49 before Ian Sangalang scored on a power play to shove Excelroof to the lead.

Pharex B countered with a decisive 15-0 run to take a 64-51 lead but Excelroof refused to yield and struck back to within, 63-66, on Raymundo’s triple with 1:31 left in the contest.

The Maroons, however, went to their defense to break a series of Excelroof’s plays en route to the victory.

“Obviously, Excelroof is such a great team with championship experience but they just wouldn’t give us the game. Hats off to them, they played really well,” said Castro.

The scores:

First Game

Pharex 74 – Co 14, Lopez 12, Arao 11, Adolfo 10, Manuel 8, David 6, Braganza 5, Reyes E. 4, Tecson 4, Maniego 0, Reyes M. 0, Hipolito 0, Astorga 0.

Excelroof 68 – Raymundo 17, Aquino 16, Celada 14, Sangalang 8, Agustin 4, Bagatsing 2, Mendoza 2, Abueva 2, Taylor 2, Bulawan 2, Pascual 0, Delgado 0, Suguitan 0.

Quarterscores: 14-4; 29-24; 49-49; 74-68

Second Game

Ascof Lagundi 78 – Canlas 22, Gamalinda 15, Uyloan 9, Aguilar 8, Labagala 7, Gerilla 6, Mazo 3, Co 3, Bauzon 3, Leynes 2, Bustos 0, Lanete 0, Asoro 0.

Ani-FCA 65 – Ong 10, Custodio 10, Sena 10, Cagoco 10, Gelasque 8, Pascual J. 8, Acosta 3, Flores 2, Sevilla 2, Pascual N. Lee 0.

Quarterscores: 29-8; 42-33; 62-48; 78-65