THE Davao Occidental Tigers and the San Juan Knights moved on to the semifinals of the Filbasket Championship after they ousted their respective opponents in the quarterfinals on Nov. 17 at the Subic Bay Gymnasium.
The second-seeded Tigers came from behind to defeat Burlington EOG, 88-81, while the third-ranked Knights disposed of Medical Depot, 88-73. The two teams will now figure in a winner-take-all match for the right to move on to the finals. Davao Occidental and San Juan are quite familiar with one another, having fought one another for the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League crown earlier this year.
In the game against Burlington EOG, Tigers were down by five, 75-80, at the start of the fourth. The Tigers refocused and uncorked 12 straight points to give them a 77-70 lead. Later, John Wilson scored a layup to give Davao Occidental their largest lead of the match at 10, 84-74, with just three minutes remaining.
However, Burlington EOG did not back down and pulled to within three, 81-84, after two free throws by James Castro, 1:39 remaining in the match. The Tigers, though, held their ground down the stretch to pick up the win.
Wilson led the way for the Tigers with 23 points, eight rebounds, and two steals while Keith Agovida had 11 markers and nine boards.
Castro ended up with 16 points, eight rebounds, and four assists for Burlington EOG.
Meanwhile, the Knights rode the hot shooting of Alvin Abundo, who had 28 points, including three straight triples that helped give them a huge 36-15 lead in the second canto. The former pro flirted with a rare triple-double as he finished with 10 assists and six rebounds. Rhenz Abando put up 18 points while Orlan Wamar tallied 11.
For Medical Depot, Patrick Cabahug scored 22 points, but struggled to find the mark from rainbow country where he made just one of his 10 attempts. Kevin Villafranca added 15. Medical Depot missed the usual production of MVP contender Simon Camacho, who was held down to just two points.