THE Pasig Sta. Lucia kept its season alive as it forced a rubber match for a semifinal ticket with a 99-79 rout of the fourth-ranked Nueva Ecija Bespren in the Filbasket Subic Championship on Tuesday, Nov. 16 at the Subic Bay Gymnasium.
Young big man Justin Arana dominated down low with 25 points and 11 rebounds while wily guard Ryan Costelo filled the stat sheet up with 16 points, six rebounds, nine assists and four steals. Cedrick Ablaza chipped in 13 markers and nine boards, while Jeckster Apinan and Jerald Bautista tallied 12 points apiece to help boost Pasig to the lopsided win.
JP Sarao was the lone bright spot for Nueva Ecija as he tallied 20 markers.
Meanwhile, the top-seeded AICC Manila clinched a spot in the Final Four with a 75-65 win over the MTrans Buracai De Laiya-Batangas City Tanduay Athletics.
Hesed Gabo had 16 points while Michael Mabulac put up a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds. Michael Juico also scored in double figures with 12 points to send Batangas City packing.
The quarterfinals kept on going on Nov. 17 with the Davao Occidental Tigers battling the Burlington EOG Sports in the first game. The game between San Juan Knights and Medical Depot then followed. Davao Occidental and San Juan have a twice-to-beat advantage over their opponents. Those games were being played as of press time.