San Juan relied heavily on Mike Calisaan to sweep Nueva Ecija, 88-80, on Friday and arrange a North Division final encounter with Pampanga in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Fifth Season at the Nueva Ecija Coliseum in Palayan City.
Calisaan responded to the call as he unloaded 30 points — 17 in the second half — grabbed 18 rebounds and made three steals to power the underdog Knights past the defending champions Rice Vanguards, whom they also stunned, 86-82, in the opener of their best-of-three semifinal series.
Orlan Wamar, who starred in San Juan’s Game 1 victory, was limited to just six points in Game 2. But he banged in a triple to quell Nueva Ecija’s early rally in the fourth quarter, 73-67.
The Rice Vanguards refused to give up and threatened for the last time, 77-82, following back-to-back triples by Jonathan Uyloan and Renz Palma.
But Marwin Taywan countered with a three-pointer and Calisaan completed a three-point play to seal San Juan’s romp over Nueva Ecija, which suffered its first loss at home this season.
It was payback time for San Juan, which lost to Nueva Ecija in last year’s North Finals, 2-1, after also winning Game 1.
“I told them (Knights) I don’t want a repeat performance,” said Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, co-owner of the 2019 MPBL Datu Cup champions. “That they should get the job done if they can in Game 2. Their determination paid off.”
Adrian Nocum, made up for a lackluster performance in the opener, with 17 points, five rebounds and five assists for San Juan Coach Randy Alcantara, who also drew 12 points, six assists and four rebounds from Nikko Panganiban and eight points, two rebounds and two assists from Taywan.
Nueva Ecija got 21 points, four rebounds and four steals from Will McAloney, 15 points and four assists from Uyloan and 11 points, four steals, four assists and three rebounds from Chris Bitoon.
Earlier, Encho Serrano took over in the fourth quarter as the Pampanga Giant Lanterns trounced the Caloocan Batang Kankaloo, 93-77, and swept the other North semifinal series.
The fiery 5-foot-11 guard from Apalit, Pampanga, poured 13 of his 22 points in the last 10 minutes, including nine in a decisive 18-3 outburst by the Giant Lanterns that broke the backs of the Batang Kankaloo from the game’s ninth and last deadlock at 71.
Serrano also issued pinpoint assists to Justine Baltazar, JB Bahio and MJ Garcia in that span to post 22 points, six assists and two rebounds to earn best player honors for Pampanga, which duplicated its 74-63 conquest of Caloocan in the opener.
The MPBL Playoffs continue on Saturday at the Batangas City Coliseum with Bacoor battling Zamboanga at 6 p.m. and GenSan tackling Batangas at 8 p.m.
