South Cotabato squeaked past Binan Tatak Gel, 79-77, on Wednesday and clinched the last semifinal slot in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) on Wednesday at the Alonte Sports Arena in Laguna.
Jervy Cruz and Marwin Dionisio drained the crucial foul shots in the dying seconds to push the Wariors past Binan who had plenty of chances to win the game late.
Binan's Kenny Roger Rocacurva earlier flubbed a wide open layup, while teammate Carlo Lastimosa missed a potential game-winning three at the buzzer.
Binan could have at least tied the game had Marc Pingris made all of his four charities, instead of just two, when they moved ahead, 75-74.
South Cotabato rallied to nip Binan, 85-82, in Game 1, while Binan pipped South Cotabato, 70-69, in Game 2 to force the decider.
South Cotabato will tangle with the waiting Batangas City Tanduay Rum on Monday, Oct. 28, in the opener of their South semifinal series.
Mark Cruz struck for the Warriors with 13 points, 10 assists and 5 rebounds to earn best player honors. Jervy Cruz topscored for South Cotabato with 18 points while Larry Rodriguez added 12.
Lastimosa posted a game-high 27 points to go alone nine rebounds in a losing effort. Rocacurva added 16 while Pingris chipped in 12 points and eight boards.
The Warriors shrugged off a flat start, 0-9, to lead at the break, 45-42, through the efforts of Rodriguez, Jervy Cruz and Mark Cruz.
Rodriguez scored all of his points in the first half while the Cruzes added nine points each to negate Lastimosa and Rocacurva’s hot start.
MPBL founder and CEO Manny Pacquiao watched the game with wife Jinkee to the delight of the packed crowd.
The MPBL playoffs continue on Saturday, Oct. 26, with the North Division semifinal openers pitting Nueva Ecija against defending champion Pampanga at 6 p.m. and Caloocan against San Juan at 8 p.m. at the FilOil EcoOil Arena in San Juan.
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