 |
| Marc Pingris led Biñan's defensive anchor to send the MPBL South Division Finals to sudden death Saturday. Glad Pillejera |
SAN JUAN, MM--Biñan did not mind losing an extra home game and still sent the MPBL South Division Finals against Quezon to a rubber match with a 57-53 win in Game 4 on Wednesday night at the Playtime FilOil Centre.
Supposed to host the game at the Laguna Sports Complex in Sta. Cruz, Laguna, only for the said venue to beg off due to air conditioning repairs inside its basketball arena, the Tatak Gel were forced to hold the game at the San Juan Knights' home instead.
However, Biñan played as if they were even inside the Alonte Sports Arena, stifling Quezon defensively and holding them to just 16 points at halftime, six in the first quarter.
The Tatak Gel were eventually on the verge of pulling away after leading, 55-40, with 3:04 left in the fourth quarter.
However, the Huskers still tried to steal the win and clinch the best-of-five series by holding the Tatak Gel without a field goal the rest of the way and going on a 13-1 run to cut the lead down to three, 56-53, with 7.6 seconds remaining.
Quezon risked going for the steal in hopes of forcing overtime, and it led to Biñan milking four seconds off the clock before JJ Pido iced his team's win with a split from the foul line with 3.3 seconds to go.
Kenny Rocacurva led the Tatak Gel with 11 points, four rebounds, and two blocks, while Warren Bonifacio added 10 points, two rebounds, and five assists.
LJay Gonzales led the Huskers with 15 points, three rebounds, and five assists.
Game 5 of the series will happen on Saturday night at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena, with the winner facing Abra in the national finals beginning next Wednesday at the Andres Bernos Memorial Gymnasium in Bangued.
