Caloocan weathered Manila SV Batang Sampaloc's furious onslaught in the last quarter to take a 79-78 win of their best-of-three quarterfinal playoffs in Season 6 of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League(MPBL) at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
The Batang Kankaloo wasted a 20-point spread (36-16) in the second quarter but held on through the heroics of John Tayongtong, who earned best player honors, to move within a win of advancing to the semifinal round of the North Division.
Tayongtong, taking over when top gun Jeramer Cabanag fouled out, scored eight points to fend off the rallying Stars, and then canned the insurance free throw, 79-75, with 4.8 seconds left.
Manila's Joshua Torralba buzzer-beater pegged the final count of the highly physical encounter that ushered in the eight-team playoffs in both the North Division and South Division of the 29-team tournament.
"We kept our poise when they came back," said Caloocan Coach Ronnie Dojillo. "We know it's going to be tough."
Cabanag went out after posting 22 points and three assists, while Tayongtong finished with 13 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Manila, behind Mike Tolomia, Greg Slaughter, Jorey Napoles and Enzo Navarro, moved to within a point thrice, the last at 71-72, but Tayongtong responded to the challenge by hitting the clutch baskets.
Slaughter led Manila with 16 points and 10 rebounds, but got ejected with two unsportsmanlike fouls.
Caloocan's Ronnie Matias suffered the same fate as he guarded the 7-foot Slaughter.
Napoles also finished with 16 points while Torralba netted 13 for Manila, the No. 4 finisher ahead of Caloocan in the North.
The South Division playoffs start on Monday with games pitting Zamboanga against Paranaque at 6 p.m. and Negros against Quezon Province at 8 p.m. at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena City.
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