Pampanga North ruler; Bacoor eyes South plum

MANILA, Philippines — Top-ranked Pampanga essayed a thrilling 82-76 comeback win on the road against San Juan to rule the North Division and march on to the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) national finals on Tuesday night at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

The Giant Lanterns clawed back from 19 points down, including a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter, as they completed a 2-0 sweep of the Knights in the division finals to extend their perfect playoff campaign so far.

Pampanga, which previously trounced Marikina in the quarterfinals and Caloocan in the semifinals, will face the winner of the South Division featuring Bacoor with a 1-0 lead against Batangas.

Bacoor, after an easy 89-68 win over Batangas in Game 1, goes for a sweep today on the road at the Batangas City Coliseum.

Ace guard Encho Serrano led the way for Pampanga with 16 points, four rebounds and seven assists. He had 11 points in the fourth to outscore the entire San Juan squad as Pampanga unleashed a 25-6 finishing kick.

Michael John Garcia chipped in the same output as team captain Justine Baltazar flirted with a triple-double of 14 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists laced by two steals and a block.

Allen Liwag collared a 10-14 double-double with John Lloyd Clemente firing 12 points highlighted by the dagger trey in the clutch to cap Pampanga’s epic comeback-from-behind triumph.

“Grabe itong binigay sa amin ni Lord. Nagpapasalamat ako sa mga bata. Lahat, buo ang puso. Walang sumurender. Pati ‘yung crowd namin, lahat ng nandito. Lahat, walang sumuko,” said Pampanga governor and head coach Dennis “Delta” Pineda.

“Hindi pa rin kami nakakampante kasi meron pa kaming laban. Kung ano ‘yung mga dapat naming ma-improve, gagawin namin para i-sacrifice lahat kasi konting-konti nalang, makukuha na namin,” added Serrano.