Pampanga nips UP, tops FBA elims
Pampanga-Foton turned back a gritty QC-University of the Philippines Diliman, 99-94, to top the elimination round in the semifinal cast of the Filsports Basketball Association Unity Cup at the Colegio de San Sebastian Gym in San Fernando, Pampanga over the weekend.
Levi Hernandez, a former Arellano University standout who is applying for this year’s PBA draft, continued his hot-shooting ways and fired a game-high 32 points while Jerald Bautista added 25 as the Tornadoes finished on top after the elims with a league-best 9-1 (win-loss) record.
Metro Racal edged a feisty Mighty MalolosBSU, 111-106, in overtime and clinched the No. 2 seed in the semis with a 6-4 card.
Pampanga-Foton thus clinched a semis showdown with No. 4 Antipolo-Wang’s while Metro Racal faces off with No. 3 QC-UP Diliman next week tentatively in Pampanga.
The Pilgrims, who lost to the Laguna Busa Warriors, 80-82, and the Fighting Maroons actually finished in a three-way tie for two of the last three spots with Laguna but the AntipoloWang’s and QC-UP wound up with the better quotient scores to advance.
Southeast Asian Games-bound national team standout Jio Jalalon, filling in for the injured Mikee Reyes, came through with a game-best 10 assists on top of four points and six rebounds in just 18 minutes to help Pampanga-Foton to the victory.
Jalalon, a member of the First Mythical Team of the NCAA last season, however, could miss his team’s semis game as he is facing a possible suspension for committing a disqualifying foul in the second half of their game against QC-UP.
It was a heartbreaking loss, meanwhile, for Laguna, a team mentored by former PBA stars Nic Belasco and Ali Peek, as it would have advanced if it had won by 12 points or more.
The semifinals and the finals will use a notomorrow knockout format like the ones used in US NCAA basketball.
The home-and-away league, which is patterned after the shelved Philippine Basketball League and defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association, is held every Saturday and is aired over PTV4.