San Juan banked on Mike Ayonayon while Manila leaned on Carlo Lastimosa to down their rivals on Friday and move closer toward a North division finals tussle in the Chooks-to-Go MPBL Lakan Season at The Arena in San Juan City.
Defying the tight guarding of Travis Thompson, Ayonayon intruded the charity lane, pivoted then took off for an off-balanced floater, the ball bouncing before trickling in for the buzzer-beater that pushed the San Juan Knights past the Pampanga Giant Lanterns, 86-84, to the cheers of hometown fans.
Lastimosa drilled in a dagger three from the corner with 40.4 seconds left then canned the insurance free throws as the Manila Stars thwarted the Makati Super Crunch’s final assault, 77-74.
The top-seeded Knights and the second-seeded Stars need only to repeat over the Giant Lanterns and the Super Crunch on March 4 at San Andres Sports Complex in Manila to forge a title battle.
Atoning for a scoreless stint in their quarterfinal playoffs against the Pasay Voyagers, Ayonayon rewarded the trust of San Juan coach Randy Alcantara, who made him the designated gunner over main man John Wilson.
“Designed play yun, wala ng oras eh, last shot, so aatakihin ni Mike, pag nag-double kay Mike, kick out kay John. Eh hindi dinouble si Mike, kaya ginawan na ng paraan ni Mike,” said Alcantara, who steered the Knights to the MPBL Datu Cup national title last year.
The Go-for-Gold-backed Knights were ahead, 80-69, midway of the fourth quarter, but the Giant Lanterns refused to give up and knotted the count at 84 with 18.3 seconds left following two charities by Dexter Maiquez.
Wilson poured 16 of his game-high 21 points in the second half and grabbed six rebounds to earn best player honors, followed by Jhonard Clarito with 15 points plus six boards.
Ayonayon wound up with 12 points and six rebounds.
Pampanga got 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists from Michael Juico, 15 points from Lervi Hernandez and 13 points plus eight boards for Maiquez.
The San Juan-Pampanga tussle followed the plot of the Manila-Makati clash.
The Frontrow-supported Stars also led by 11 with less than four minutes to go, but the Super Crunch employed a full court press to bunch 11 points, the last six by Rudy Lingganay, and catch up at 72 with 44 seconds left.
Lastimosa, who towed Manila to a 57-39 spread in the third quarter, however, came through in the clutch to reward Manila coach Tino Pinat with the momentum-setting victory.
Jong Baloria put Makati to within 74-75, but Lastimosa canned in two charities with only 1.9 ticks left. Too far out, Baloria’s triple attempt was off the mark.
Continuing his sterling play from the quarterfinals, Lastimosa finished with 25 points, six assists, and three rebounds, followed by Aris Dionisio with12 points and seven boards, and Chris Bitoon with 11 points, six assists and five rebounds.
The Super Crunch of coach Beaujing Acot drew 17 points and 11 rebounds from Jeckster Apinan,16 points from Baloria and 10 each from Joseph Sedurifa and Cedrick Ablaza.
