It may have taken them constrasting victories over the weekend, but DECA 8990 and 3W Builders found their way to the finals of the Next5Hoops Metro Manila South.
Still undefeated DECA 8990 had to scrape past Tsek Repablik, 89-82, while 3W Builders demolished South Hills Royals, 107-84, to arrange a Finals meeting on October 2.
A 12-5 run in the last two and half minutes of the game held at EJH Lucky Gym put DECA 8990 out of harm’s way after the pesky Tsek Repablik roared back and tied the game at 77.
DECA 8990 main man Mark Orias scored seven points in the crucial run en route to a 25-point performance that went along with four rebounds and eight assists.
BJ Faundo and Mark Madera added 21 points and 17 rebounds, respectively, off the bench for DECA 8990, which tried but failed to split the game wide open in the third.
June Crespo had another 25-point game that went with four rebounds and five steals as he led Tsek Repablik’s tough stand from 13 points down.
Tsek Repablik turned DECA 8990’s miscues into gold, getting 21 points each off second chance and turnover points but those still weren’t enough to come away with the victory.
Meanwhile, 3W Builders had another easy win en route to the finals, leading South Hills Royals by double digits from the 1:20 mark in the opening period all the way to the final buzzer.
3W Builders also eased into the top four with a 101-69 rout of Chargers in the playoffs,
This time, 3W Builders built an advantage as big as 31 points, 101-70, on a basket from Exequiel Panares who paced the team with 30 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
Jepoy Vito Cruz chipped in 29 points while Matthew Riel had 18 points and 11 rebounds to reinforce 3W Builders
Not even an eye-popping 38-point, 23-rebound explosion from Dion Reverente could save the game for South Hills Royals, which entered the semifinals after bundling out top contender WarFit Basketballl.
After a tied game at 10 early on, 3W Builders went on a 19-6 run to break the it wide open and South Hills Royals never threatened to come close.
