Makati, Manila seal second round clash with sweep of foes

Makati’s shaky finish in the elimination round in the Chooks-to-Go MPBL Lakan revived memories of last season’s playoff collapse.

And it didn’t help that the Super Crunch forfeited home court advantage after the Makati Coliseum was unavai­lable and its alternative venue, the Guadalupe Viejo Gym, was deemed unsafe by league officials to host an MPBL game.

“It’s disappointing because the players worked hard to gain home court advantage,” said Makati coach Beaujing Acot.

But the challenge only fueled third seed Makati as the Super Crunch finished off No. 6 Bulacan Kuyas, 86-78, in Game 2 last Saturday night at Malolos Sports and Convention Center in Malolos, Bulacan.

Ced Ablaza and former De La Salle guard Josh Torralba wound up with 22 points each as Makati forged a North division semifinals duel with Manila Stars-Frontrow.

“We had to stick together,” said Acot, who replaced Cholo Villanueva near the end of the season where Makati won only two of its last six games.

The nightmarish end to last season also haunted Makati, which was at the wrong end of a sweep in the Datu Cup playoffs to then No. 7 Quezon City in the first round.

“I think it made this win swee­ter just because we lost early in the playoffs last year,” Ablaza said.

The Stars also swept the Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors after a narrow 92-90 victory earlier.

Manila survived a late barrage from Robbie Manalang, who hit two straight triples to pull the Realtors to within two points. After a couple of misses from Chris Bitoon at the free throw line, Pasig had two opportunities only for Jeric Teng to miss a potential game-tying basket and Argel Mendoza bungling a three-point shot at the buzzer.

“I just told the team not to panic because we were still in control,” said Manila coach Tino Pinat in Filipino.

Carlo Lastimosa led the Stars with 21 points. INQ