BATANGAS sped away in the third quarter and withstood South Cotabato’s final assault to prevail, 81-79, late Monday and forces a Game Three decider in the MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) Sixth Season South Division playoffs at the Batangas City Coliseum.

Trailing, 40-41, the Batangas Tanduay Rum Masters clustered 16 points, including two triples by Jong Baloria, to seize control with 6 minutes and 24 seconds left and held the wheel till the end of Game Two.

With Philip Paniamogan canning two free throws, the Rum Masters built their biggest buffer, 60-44, and went on to avenge their 76-87 loss to the Warriors in Game One of their best-of-three semifinal series.

Earlier, the Quezon Huskers called on Judel Fuentes to repel the Paranaque Patriots, 76-69, and advance to the South Finals via a two-game sweep.

Fuentes pumped in 10 of his game-high 27 points in the fourth quarter as the Huskers duplicated their 75-62 victory in the series opener.

Now, all the Huskers need to do is wait for the winner between the Rum Masters and the Warriors in the sudden death slated at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 7, at the same venue.

South Cotabato crept to within 74-80, but MHJ Dela Virgen drove in and Baloria added a free throw to decide the outcome, 81-74, with 36.6 seconds left.

Christian Fajarito then scored for South Cotabato. After Batangas’ Levi Hernandez missed two charities with 6.5 ticks to go, Warrior JP Calvo drilled in a buzzer-beater triple for the final count.

Hernandez posted 15 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks to clinch the Daily Fantasy best player honors over Baloria (14 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks) and Paniamogan (13 points, 4 rebounds).

Other Rum Masters who delivered for Coach Cholo Villanueva were Dawn Ochea with 7 points and 7 rebounds, CJ Isit with 7 points and 4 assists and Cedric Ablaza with 6 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

South Cotabato got 13 points and 5 rebounds from Nico Elorde, 11 points plus 2 rebounds and 2 assists from Jervy Cruz, 10 points and 3 rebounds from Kyle Tolentino and 10 points plus 9 rebounds from Jammer Jamito.

Calvo wound up with 8 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals, Val Acuna with 8 points and 2 rebounds and Game One star Christian Fajarito with 8 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

Showing why he’s licensed to shoot, Fuentes made 10 of 18 field goal attempts, highlighted by a 5 of 11 performance from the 3-point zone, and added 3 rebounds to earn the Daily Fantasy best player honors.

Fuentes was the lone Husker in twin digits, with Jason Opiso and team skipper Gab Banal contributing 8 points each and Alvin Abundo chipping in 7, all in the first half.

Banal also posted 7 rebounds and 3 assists while Opiso grabbed 4 rebounds as the Huskers held the rein for 37 minutes and 27 seconds.

The Huskers, powered by Fuentes’ 10 points, Abundo’s 7 and Banal’s 6 led at the break, 40-34, negating the 15-point explosion of Patriot JP Sarao and the 9-point output of Jielo Razon.

Sarao tallied 26 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals, Razon with 15 points plus 4 rebounds and John Uduba 9 points plus 10 rebounds.

With Philip Manalang also snaring 10 rebounds and Kristan Hernandez pulling down 9, the Patriots outrebounded the Huskers, 45-37. They were, however, hampered by a poor 31.6 field goal shooting (18 of 57) against their rivals’ 27 of 62 attempts for 43.5 percent.

Quezon Coach Eric Gonzales attributed the Huskers’ success to “collective effort” by the players, coaches, management and the team owners led by Quezon Gov. Helen Tan.

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