MANILA – Terrafirma Dyip secured the remaining quarterfinals seat in the PBA Philippine Cup after knocking out NorthPort Batang Pier, 104-96, last night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Malate, Manila.
Down 87-88 early in the fourth quarter, Javi Gomez de Liano caught fire for the Dyip with back-to-back three-pointers followed by a conversion from Stephen Holt to take a 95-88 lead.
The Batang Pier cut the deficit to 92-95 on back-to-back hits by Cade Flores, the Dyip increased it back to 98-92 on a Juan Miguel Tiongson triple, but NorthPort threatened anew at 96-98 with connections from Fran Yu and Flores.
Terrafirma, however, responded with back-to-back three-point plays from Tiongson and Holt as they increased the advantage to 104-96 with under a minute left in the knockout game.
Tiongson led the way with 30 points, including four three-point conversions, while Gomez de Liano added 21 markers to earn the Player of the Game honors for the Dyip, which snapped a 16-conference quarterfinals drought.
Holt finished with a near-triple-double of 18 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds, while George Isaac Go tallied 13 points for the Dyip, which entered the All-Filipino Conference playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
Dyip head coach Johnedel Cardel said he was delighted for his young team to reach the round-of-8, but admitted that they are expected to be challenged against the twice-to-beat holder San Miguel Beermen.
“Siyempre talagang sobrang swerte, dun kami sa worst na pwedeng mangyari, nandito kami sa knockout game, and after ang makakalaban namin is ‘yung No.1 team,” Cardel said.
“Siyempre mahirap kalaban ang San Miguel, kahit sinong bunutin ni coach Jorge (Gallent) pwedeng gumawa, so kailangan talagang pag aralan namin and ‘yung determination din ng mga bata sa playoff game,” he added.
Zavier Lucero led the Batang Pier with 17 points, Flores added 16 markers, while Joshua Munzon, Arvin Tolentino, and Paul Zamar ended with 15, 13, and 10 points, respectively./PN
BOX SCORE;
TERRAFIRMA 104 – Tiongson 30, Gomez de Liano 21, Holt 18, Go 13, Ramos 7, Carino 7, Sangalang 4, Alolino 2, Calvo 2, Camson 0, Mina 0, Cahilig 0.
NORTHPORT 96 – Lucero 17, Flores 16, Munzon 15, Tolentino 13, Zamar 10, Navarro 9, Amores 7, Yu 4, Rosales 2, Cuntapay 2, Adamos 1, Bulanadi 0, Chan 0.
Quarterscores: 27-33, 55-54, 82-81, 104-96.
