THE Gensan Warriors greeted the fourth quarter with a big run and subdued the Basilan Starhorse Portmasters, 79-67, on Friday to advance to the semifinal round of the MPBL 2025 Season at the Olivarez College Gym in Paranaque City.
Behind, 57-58, after three quarters, Gensan uncorked a 16-4 spurt, capped by a triple by Mark Cruz, to sway the balance, 76-62, with 2 minutes and 38 seconds left.
Gensan will tangle with reigning South Division champion Quezon in another best-of-three affair in the semifinal round.
READ Arwind Santos: 'Bakit 'yung nagsimula ng gulo, wala man lang kahit ano?'
Marwin Dionisio presided over that Gensan surge with seven points and wound up with 10 points, 11 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 steals, supporting Jackson Corpuz's 15 points, 13 rebounds and 3 assists, and Cruz's 15 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists that merited Best Player honors.
Homegrown CJ Gonzales also shone for Gensan in the third quarter, scoring all his 9 points in that span and enabling the Warriors to recover from a 41-49 deficit.
Basilan drew 18 points and 6 rebounds from Alex Cabagnot, 14 points and 8 rebounds from Sherwin Concepcion, and 12 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists from Gab Dagangon while playing without veteran Arwind Santos.
The former PBA MVP was handed an indefinite ban and slapped with a P100,000 fine for punching Tonton Bringas in Game Two.
Dagangon knocked in a buzzer-beater jumper from the corner to give Basilan back the lead, 58-57, after Gensan's Mark Cruz drilled in a triple.
Gensan also prevailed in Game One, 85-78, but Basilan equalized with a 116-114 double overtime victory in Game Two.
The MPBL playoffs continue on Tuesday, October 28, at the Nueva Ecija Coliseum in Palayan City with the deciding third game between the home team Rice Vanguards and the Pangasinan Heatwaves at 7 p.m.
The Heatwaves won Game One, 86-85, of their quarterfinal series, but the Rice Vanguards exacted revenge on Game Two, 82-72.
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