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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Quezon, South Cotabato win openers of South semifinals

Quezon, South Cotabato win openers of South semifinals

Published Oct 29, 2024 05:42 am

At A Glance

  • The Quezon Huskers buried the Paranaque Patriots with a mound of points in the fourth quarter and prevailed, 75-62, Monday night, Oct. 28, in Game One of their MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Sixth Season South Division semifinal series at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena City.

The Quezon Huskers buried the Paranaque Patriots with a mound of points in the fourth quarter and prevailed, 75-62, Monday night, Oct. 28, in Game One of their MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Sixth Season South Division semifinal series at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena City.

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Gab Banal shines for the Quezon Huskers. (MPBL Images)

Held to a 50-50 count, the Huskers clustered 13 points, sparked by Gab Banal's triple and Judel Fuentes' back-to-back triples, to break away with 5 minutes and 34 and move within a win of advancing to the division finals against the winner of a similar semifinal series pitting South Cotabato against Batangas.

The South Cotabato Warriors got the boost from Christian Fajarito and subdued the Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters, 87-76, earlier.

After Quezon's barrage, Paranaque could get no closer than 61-70 following two free throws by Jielo Razon, an inside thrust and a triple by John Umali with 1 minute and 24 seconds left.

Flashing the form that made him the MPBL Datu Cup MVP, Banal posted 16 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists to clinch the Daily Fantasy best player honors over Ximone Sandagon, who tallied 16 points and 5 rebounds and Fuentes, who fired 13 points.

The Huskers could cut short the best-of-three tussle if they repeat over the underdog Patriots in Game 2 on Monday, Nov. 4.

Homegrown Topeng Lagrama also shone for Quezon Coach Eric Gonzales with 7 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds.

Paranaque got 14 points plus 8 rebounds from John Uduba and 12 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists from Jielo Razon.

Fajarito, who played only 16 of 28 elimination round games due to nagging injuries, chalked 20 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal in 22 minutes and 57 seconds to earn the Daily Fantasy best player honors.

The 6-foot-6 former Letran star was supported by Marwin Dionisio with 10 points and 4 rebounds, Jammer Jamito with 9 points plus 11 rebounds, Mark Cruz with 9 points plus 5 assists and Val Acuna with 9 points plus 2 assists, enabling the Warriors to lead by as far as 62-43 following a 10-point cluster.

The Warriors ruled the boards, 49-39, and converted more second-chance points, 28-8, than the Rum Masters, who were hounded by poor free shooting, splitting their 22 attempts. In contrast, the Warriors canned 13 of 15 tries for an impressive 86.7 conversion rate.

Batangas drew 16 points and 6 rebounds from Levi Hernandez, 10 points plus 7 rebounds from Dawn Ochea and 9 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists from Jeckster Apinan.

South Cotabato bunched eight points to break free from Batangas, 45-32, late in the second quarter and never yielded the lead back.

The MPBL playoffs continue on Wednesday, Oct. 30, with North Division games pitting San Juan against Caloocan at 6 p.m. and Nueva Ecija against Pampanga at 8 p.m. at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando, Pampanga.

San Juan bested Caloocan (71-65) and Pampanga edged Nueva Ecija (75-73) in the series openers and will be gunning for sweeps that would put them on a collision course for the North crown.

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