THE Batangas Tanduay Rum Masters bucked a flat start and advanced to the MPBL South Division Finals after blasting the South Cotabato Warriors, 73-63, on Thursday in the do-or-die Game 3 inside the packed Batangas City Coliseum.
The Rum Masters blanked the Warriors for more than four minutes at the start of the fourth to create a 61-53 separation, a lead they never relinquished to book a return to the division finals.
John Ambulodto and Levi Hernandez presided over Batangas' offense that hit high gear in the second half.
Ambulodto posted 18 points and seven rebounds to earn best player honors over Hernandez, who tallied 16 points, five rebounds and two steals.
Cedric Ablaza and Jong Baloria added 12 and nine apiece for Batangas.
The Warriors started off strong with back to back triples from Mark Cruz and Marwin Dionisio pushing the warriors to a 23-9 lead, a lead they extended to 15, 30-15, before the hosts started their comeback to book a showdown with Quezon Province starting this Saturday, at 7 p.m. at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena City.
Batangas Coach Cholo Villanueva praised his wards for being "resilient" and said the victory was a "testament to our consistency and winning culture," referring to the Rum Masters' sixth straight MPBL playoffs appearance.
South Cotabato got 12 points and 11 rebounds from Christian Fajarito while Val Acuna added 10 points and nine boards in the deflating loss which saw their squad squander an 87-76 Game 1 win before losing two straight.
The MPBL North Division Finals begin on Friday with defending champion Pampanga and former titlist San Juan colliding at 7 p.m. at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
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