By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
AICC Manila advanced to the semifinals while Pasig-Sta. Lucia forged a do-or-die in the FilBasket Subic Championship at the Subic gym Tuesday.
The top-seeded Manila dribblers outplayed No. 8 MTrans Batangas City, 75-65, to book the first Final Four berth while the fifth-seeded Pasig-Sta. Lucia Realtors thumped the No. 4 Nueva Ecija Bespren, 99-79, to live for another day.
Both AICC Manila and Nueva Ecija came into their respective games enjoying twice-to-beat quarters advantages against their rivals for finishing in the top four.
Hesed Gabo led AICC with 16 points while Michael Mabulac posted 14 and 11 bpards for AICC Manila.
Mtrans never recovered its bearing since falling 39-30 at halftime.
Six players scored in double digits for the Realtors with Justin Arana erupting for 25 points apart from grabbing11 rebounds, and Ryan Costelo added 16 points, six boards and nine assists.
Cedrick Ablaza added 13 points, Jerald Bautista and Apinan had 12 points each, and Rudy Lingganay posted 10 points.
The do-or-die match will be on Thursday.
