San Juan hit high gear in the last three quarters and never sputtered to rout Rizal Xentromall, 79-64, on Saturday in the opener of their North Division quarterfinal playoffs in the MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Sixth Season at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Barely ahead after the first frame, 17-16, the San Juan Knights, with Michael Calisaan as sparkplug, sped away at halftime, 48-38, and moved a win away from clinching the best-of-three series between the North’s top finisher and the eighth and last qualifier.
Calisaan posted 16 points, 10 in the second quarter, and 5 rebounds to clinch the Daily Fantasy best player honors over Dexter Maiquez, who tallied 14 points plus 4 rebounds, and Reynel Hugnatan with 10 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds.
Elated by the victory that avenged San Juan’s 100-104 overtime loss to Rizal in the round-robin elimination round of the two-division, 29-team tournament,
San Juan coach Sen. Jinggoy said: “I’m proud of the boys. They did their homework. They did their job very well.”
Estrada, however, said the Knights need to lessen their turnovers if they wish to sweep the Golden Coolers and continue their chase for the MPBL crown they won in 2019.
San Juan, which led by as far as 77-55 midway through the fourth quarter, drew 8 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds from Agem Miranda and 7 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds from Top Gun Orlan Wamar.
Rizal got 13 points and 10 rebounds from Marco Balagtas and 13 points from Alwyn Alday, but no other Golden Cooler could hit twin digits.
Earlier, Caloocan weathered Manila SV Batang Sampaloc’s furious onslaught in the last quarter and notched a 79-78 squeaker in their own best-of-three series.
The Batang Kankaloo wasted a 20-point spread (36-16) in the second quarter but held on through the heroics of Joco Tayongtong, who took over when Top Gun Jeramer Cabanag fouled out, bunching eight points to fend off the rallying Stars.
Tayongton also canned the insurance free throw, 79-75, with 4.8 seconds left.
Manila’s Joshua Torralba buzzer-beater pegged the final count of the highly physical encounter that ushered in the eight-team playoffs in the North Division and South Division.
“We kept our composure when they came back and the breaks of the game went our way.” said Caloocan Coach Ronnie Dojillo. “We have to prepare for another surprise in Game 2.”
Cabanag went out after posting 22 points and 3 assists, while Tayongtong finished with 13 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
Gabby Espinas also did his part for Caloocan with 6 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.
Manila, behind Mike Tolomia, Greg Slaughter, Jorey Napoles and Enzo Navarro, moved to within a point thrice, the last at 71-72, but Tayongtong responded to the challenge.
Slaughter chalked 16 points and 10 rebounds but got ejected with two unsportsmanlike fouls.
Caloocan’s Ronnie Matias suffered the same fate after contributing 7 points and 8 points while guarding the 7-foot Slaughter.
Napoles also finished with 16 points while Torralba netted 13 for Manila, the No. 4 finisher ahead of Caloocan in the North.
The South Division playoffs start on Monday with games pitting Zamboanga against Paranaque at 6 p.m. and Negros against Quezon Province at 8 p.m. at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena City.
