The victory forged a winner-take-all Game Three on Wednesday at the same venue. The winner of that game will move on to face the Asian Orthopedics-2014, which advanced to the championship round after winning their semifinal showdown with Batch 2018.
Batch 2013 put up a fight in the first 10 minutes of action as they led, 22-20. However, Batch 2012 came alive in the middle periods and outscored their foes, 68-22, to all but settle the game’s outcome.
Dave Yu paced Batch 2012 with 18 points and nine assists while Rev Diputado had 17 points, four rebounds, three assists, and four steals. The big men of Batch 2012 also had their way inside as Julius Cadavis, Mavii Suarez, and Alexander Lim combined for 35 points.
Nobody scored in double-figures for Batch 2013, which missed the services of top guns Rendell Senining, Dawn Ochea, and Fletcher Galvez.
Meanwhile in Division B, the Cebu Landmasters-2003 booked their ticket to the finals with a resounding 79-54 win over the Bad Boys Wingz-2007. The victory completed a 2-0 sweep by Batch 2003. Rich Tuadles had 12 points and nine rebounds, while Wilmer Ong added 10 points and five boards for the winning side.
Batch 2003, though, will have to wait for the winner of the other semifinal affair between the Starkwood Properties-2009 and the SUPREA Ready Mixed Concrete-2011 after the former stopped the latter, 61-57, to tie the series up at 1-1.
Kyle Valmoria led the way for Batch 2009 with 15 points, while Niel Benedicto and Joseph Roma added 12 markers apiece.
In Division A, the Dynacast-2001 handed the Xchange Forex-2000 their first loss of the tournament after winning, 61-54. John Cabrera had 12 points, three assists, two rebounds, two blocks and a steal, while Madhoor Naido added 11 markers and five boards to help Batch 2001 pull the rug out from under the highly-touted Batch 2000.
The Magis Medical Fund-1997 also inched closer to a finals berth with a dominant 69-51 win over the AutoLAB-1999. Roderick Mangubat filled the stat sheet up with 16 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and two steals.