THE Quezon Huskers thwarted the Gensan Warriors' repeated rallies and prevailed, 95-85, on Tuesday to advance to the South Division Finals of the MPBL 2025 Season at the steamy Batangas City Coliseum.
LJay Gonzales, Gab Banal and Alfrancis Tamsi provided the sustained firepower for the Huskers, who swept the Warriors, 2-0, in their best-of-three semifinal series to get a shot at defending their South Division crown.
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Gonzales fired 8 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, where the Warriors moved to within 82-85 following back-to-back triples by Kyle Tolentino and Jack Corpuz.
Tamsi knocked in a triple and homegrown Emman Tagle drove in, however, to quell Gensan's final assault.
Unlike in Game One, which Quezon handily won, 103-75, Gensan came up ready this time, even taking a 20-12 lead in the first quarter through the efforts of Corpuz, Tolentino and Nico Elorde.
Quezon, however, tied the halftime count at 46 behind Will Gozum, Judel Fuentes and RJ Minerva, to the delight of the thousands of fans who endured the heat as the air conditioning system broke down.
Binan-Batangas march postponed
The cumulative effect of the warm bodies and the lack of ventilation made the playing court very slippery, prompting Binan to request that its game against Batangas be postponed. Binan was ahead, 13-7, when the game was halted.
MPBL commissioner Kenneth Duremdes decided to postpone the Binan-Batangas tussle to Friday at a venue yet to be announced. Under FIBA rules, the game will start anew at 0-0.
Gonzales also finished with 5 rebounds and 5 assists to clinch Best Player honors over Banal, with 12 points, all from triples, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, and Judel Fuentes with 12 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists.
Ximone Sandagon and Vince Magbuhos contributed nine points each for the Huskers.
Gensan got 14 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds from Corpuz, 14 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists from Tolentino, 12 points from Elorde and 10 points each from Larry Rodriguez and Mark Cruz.
The MPBL semifinal round continues on Thursday, with San Juan and Pangasinan disputing the second finals slot in the North Division at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Pangasinan stunned San Juan, 67-57, in Game One, while San Juan won Game Two, 83-66, to force the sudden-death. The winner advances to the best-of-five division finals against Abra Solid North.
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