Stallions clinch finals berth in TOP's 9th leg

Treston Laguna outclassed Hobe Bihon-Taguig, 82-72, to clinch the first finals berth in the 9th leg of the Tournament of the Philippines (TOP) Thursday at the Cong. Jun Duenas gym in Signal Village, Taguig City. The Stallions, who trailed by seven points at the half, came through with several runs in the third, to turn the game around and scored their second straight win in the tournament jointly organized by the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) and Liga Pilipinas. Taguig fell to 1-1, making their showdown with ANI-FCA Friday as a knockout match for the second finals berth. Earlier, ANI-FCA eliminated Mandaue from the playoff race with a 77-70 win. "We were down by seven points at halftime, but we went to our zone defense in the second half plus Ricky Ricafuente, Glenn Bolocon and Leo Losentes starting to shoot well from the outside," said coach Nomar Isla. The Cultivators got off to fiery start, leading by 17 points after the first period and 15 in the third, before wavering early in the payoff period that saw the Landmasters move to within 70-74, with barely two minutes left. Time, however, were not on their side as the Cultivators went on to win the game that enabled them to redeem themselves from a disappointing 92-85 overtime loss to Treston-Laguna the other day. In their previous loss to Stallions, the Cultivators blew a 15-point lead. Former MLQU Stallion Jofer Custodio scored 13 points while ex-pro Magnum Membrere added 11 points for the Cultivarors. Ani-FCA raced to a commanding 25-8 lead at the end of the first period, but the Landmasters, behind the efforts of JR Gerilla, Magdadaro and newly-acquired guard JP Alcaraz, cut the lead to 39-35 at the half. But the Cultivators kept their poise in the second half, getting contributions from Custodio, Membrere and former JRU Heavy Bomber James Sena. Starting point guard Earn Saguindel drained a triple to put his team ahead 59-44 with 2:40 left in the third. - RCJ, GMANews.TV