Parañaque, Batangas near finals
BATANGAS CITY—Former San Beda guard Ryusei Koga delivered a career performance as seventh seed Parañaque-Gamboa Coffee overwhelmed No. 2 Muntinlupa-Angelis Resort, 84-59, on Thursday night to move within a victory of a finals berth in the 2018 MPBL Anta Rajah Cup.
Held scoreless the first time the two teams met in the elimination round, Koga came alive with 24 points and eight assists as the Patriots, who earlier ousted No. 2 Bulacan-Ligo, grabbed the headstart in the best-of-three semifinal series.
Top seed Batangas-Tanduay also closed in on a championship spot with an 80-75 victory over Valenzuela-Yulz in a game marred by the ejection of three players.
Batangas’ Jayson Grimaldo and Adrian Santos were ejected along with Valenzuela’s Ford Ruaya after a scuffle in the third period.
