MANILA escaped a late Makati fightback, 77-74, to draw first blood in their North Division semifinals on Friday in the 2020 Chooks-to-Go Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) Lakan Cup playoffs at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
Carlo Lastimosa buried the go-ahead left corner three-pointer that made it a 75-72 affair with 40.4 seconds remaining before putting the finishing touches for the Frontrow-backed Stars with a pair of freebies in the final 1.1 seconds.
Jong Baloria still had a chance to force overtime for the Super Crunch, but his late triple try at the buzzer couldn't find the bottom of the net.
"Na-rattle din kami sa press nila kaya sila nakahabol. Buti na lang, mentally tough yung players thanks to Carlo Lastimosa's clutch shots," said coach Tino Pinat.

Lastimosa carried Manila with a scintillating 25-point performance, on top of his six assists, three rebounds, three steals, and two blocks to lead Manila to a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
Aris Dionisio did his share with 12 points, seven boards, four steals, and two rejections. Chris Bitoon came off the bench and gathered 11 points, six assists, and five rebounds as the Stars averted a massive collapse after nearly blowing an 18-point third-quarter lead, 57-39.
Manila will aim to finish the series off against Makati on Wednesday in Game Two at San Andres Sports Complex.
It was a brave stand for Makati, which relied on Rudy Lingganay's clutch baskets to crawl back from an 11-point deficit in the last four minutes and tie the game at 72 with 44.0 ticks left.
The veteran playmaker scored six of his eight points in that fourth-period fightback that had the three-seed Super Crunch giving the No. 2 seeds Stars all they could handle.
Jeckster Apinan powered Makati with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and two steals, while Baloria had 16 points and five boards in the loss.
The scores:
MANILA 77 - Lastimosa 25, Dionisio 12, Bitoon 11, Matias 9, Dyke 6, Gabriel 5, Espinas 3, Abrigo 2, Tallo 2, Lopez 2, Go 0, Lee 0.
MAKATI 74 - Apinan 17, Baloria 16, Ablaza 10, Sedurifa 10, Villanueva 8, Lingganay 8, Torralba 3, Cruz 2, Atkins 0, Manlangit 0.
Quarters: 18-10, 43-28, 62-52, 77-74.
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