Caloocan stunned Manila again, 66-65, on Saturday to forge a North Division semifinal round tussle with first qualifier San Juan in the MPBL (Maharlike Pilipinas Basketball League) Sixth Season Playoffs at the people-packed Paco Arena in Manila.
Down by five points with just 38 seconds to go, the Batang Kankaloo leaned on a clutch triple by Jeramer Cabanag and a layup by Marion Magat to duplicate their 79-78 squeaker in Game One and cut short the best-of-three quarterfinal series.
The Manila SV Batang Sampaloc Stars have two chances to extend the game in the last 8 seconds and a buzzer-beater, but Carl Bryan Cruz missed both, sending the underdog Batang Kankaloo into celebration.
The Batang Kankaloo, the No. 5 qualifier, will next meet the touted San Juan Knights, who trounced the Rizal Xentromall Golden Coolers, 82-70, earlier for a 2-0 sweep of their playoffs.
Caloocan led, 53-47, after three quarters, but Manila clustered seven points on a triple by Joshua Torralba, two free throws by Jorey Napoles and a layup by John Cantimbuhan to seize control.
Cabanag broke the ice for Caloocan with 7 minutes and 5 seconds left, paving the way for the thriller that saw the Stars move ahead, 66-61, following triples by Cruz, Joshua Torralba and Napoles in a 10-3 run.
Cabanag, however, came through with that 3-pointer after faking Torralba, who committed the pivotal inbound error later, and was named the Daily Fantasy best player with 15 points, laced by three triples in the second half, 8 rebounds and 3 assists.
No other Batang Kankaloo posted twin digits with Joshua Flores contributing 8 points and Antonio Bonsubre Jr., Reil Cervantes, Gabby Espinas and Joco Tayongtong 6 points each.
