By Jerome Lagunzad
Former Mapua standout Allan Mangahas rose to the occasion down the stretch once again as Muntinlupa repeated over Navotas, 72-69, on Tuesday night and advanced to the 2018 Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Anta Rajah Cup semifinals.
The 5-foot-11 Mangahas provided another strong offensive punch off the bench with a game-high 23 points, including a pair of clutch buckets inside the final two minutes, that enabled the third-ranked Cagers hold off the sixth-seeded Clutch in a thrilling windup much to the delight of the partisan Muntinlupa Sports Complex crowd.
The hard-earned victory, which came on the heels of an 83-77 triumph in the opener last week, towed Muntinlupa to the best-of-three semis series either against No. 2 Bulacan or No. 7 Parañaque City.
The Patriots, playing with a collective sense of urgency, got back at the Kuyas, 81-54, to force a sudden-death showdown in their own quarterfinals duel.
Former Perpetual Help stalwart Jong Baloria came off the bench and waxed hot with 26 points on an efficient 11-of-19 shooting from the field while Harold Arboleda tallied 12 points and 13 rebounds to help Parañaque City’s cause.
The Patriots’ suffocating defense also made the difference in their wire-to-wire victory as they pushed the Kuyas’ out of their comfort zone, forcing them to miss 38 of their 58 attempts from the field and turn the ball over 14 times.
Bulacan ace Stephen Siruma, who sizzled with 24 points in their 83-73 win in the series opener, groped for form against Parañaque City’s stymieing defense, coming up with just 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting.
