DEFENDING champion Pampanga steadied in overtime to nip Nueva Ecija, 83-80, late Wednesday and forge a dream North Division finals with San Juan in the MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Sixth Season at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando, Pampanga.
Homegrown stars MJ Garcia and Encho Serrano canned two free throws each to negate MJ Ayaay's two charities in the dying seconds, enabling the Giant Lanterns to cut short their best-of-three semifinal series, 2-0, before an overflow crowd.
READ Knights put away Caloocan in MPBL North semis opener
Serrano's two free throws with 11.5 seconds left gave Pampanga an 83-80 lead and Nueva Ecija failed to extend the game again following a turnover by JC Cullar with 3.4 ticks left.
Nueva Ecija, the 2022 MPBL titlist, forced extra time on a triple by Ayaay, 70-70, with only 2.4 seconds to go.
The Giant Lanterns won't be denied, however, as Archie Concepcion and reigning MVP Justine Baltazar joined forces with Garcia and Serrano to suppress the Rice Vanguards in the five-minute extension.
Bucking an aching knee, Serrano wound up with 23 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists to clinch Best Player honors over Concepcion, who had 18 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks. Baltazar added 10 points, 25 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks and Garcia chipped in 10 points, six in overtime, plus 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
With Brandon Ramirez snagging 14 rebounds to backstop Baltazar, Pampanga ruled the boards, 67-56.
Pampanga coach Gov. Dennis Pineda, who was feeling under the weather, said he's going to give the Giant Lanterns a brief rest before plunging back to work in preparation for the repeat best-of-three North Finals against the San Juan Knights, whom they swept, 2-0, last year.
Nueva Ecija got 13 points and 9 rebounds from Will McAloney, 11 points from Ayaay, 10 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks from JC Cullar and 9 points plus 12 rebounds from Robby Celiz.
San Juan repeated over Caloocan, 86-80, in another semifinal encounter earlier to keep its drive going for the MPBL crown it won in 2019.
Powered by Orlan Wamar and Reynel Hugnatan, the Knights controlled the tempo and led by as far as 52-35 in duplicating their 71-65 conquest of the Batang Kankaloo in Game One.
Wamar wound up with 15 points, including a perfect 8 of 8 free throws, and 6 assists while Hugnatan posted 13 points and 6 rebounds to win Best Player honors.
Other Knights who shone for coach Sen. Jinggoy Estrada were Dexter Maiquez with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists and Michael Malonzo with 10 points and 6 rebounds that helped San Juan dominate underneath, 48-33.
Caloocan scored the game's first basket and led for 1 minute and 1 second before San Juan seized control and held the rein for 35 minutes and 40 seconds.
The Batang Kankaloo got 17 points, 15 in the fourth quarter, from Jeramer Cabanag, 16 from Paul Sanga, 12 from Reil Cervantes and 11 from Irven Palecia, who added 5 assists and 4 steals.
The MPBL playoffs take a break and will resume on Nov. 4 at the Batangas City Coliseum with the South Division semifinals. Quezon Province is seeking a sweep of its best-of-three series with Paranaque at 6 p.m., same with South Cotabato against host Batangas at 8 p.m.
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