Source: (The Philippine Star)
MANILA, Philippines - Cobra Energy Drink fended off Fern-C’s rally in the final quarter as it hacked out an 88-82 victory to clinch the third semis berth and give sister team Cossack Blue a free ride to the Final Four in the PBL PG Flex-Erase Placenta Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City yesterday.
The Ironmen rode on a big third quarter run to build a 15-point lead but sputtered in the fourth in the face of Fern-C’s spirited charge before hanging tough to pound out the victory.
Cobra thus finished the single round elims with a 5-2 record, securing the No. 2 spot behind Pharex B-Complex, which topped the field with a 6-1 card.
The Ironmen actually finished tied with the Excelroof 25ers but took the second spot and the other twice-to-beat incentive on a winner-over-the-other rule. Cobra nipped Excelroof, 66-65, last March 4.
Cobra’s victory also enabled Cossack to grab the fourth and last semis seat despite losing via rout, 53-88, to AddMix in the second game.
Pharex B-Complex will take on Cossack while Cobra battles Excelroof in the other semis pairing.
Cossack wound up with a 4-3 record, the same card of Ascof Lagundi. But the Spirits grabbed the last spot as they edged the Ascof side, 88-87, in their previous encounter.
For the third straight time, former UAAP top gun Patrick Cabahug led Cobra with 25 points and finished with seven rebounds while UE stars Paul Lee and Pari Llagas backed him up with 20 points each.
Llagas also pulled down 14 rebounds to complete another double-double performance.
“It was a struggle but somehow we got there. But our play still needs so much to be desired. I don’t know but I’m trying to work on it but then somehow we managed to survive against some of the top teams in the tournament,” said Cobra coach Lawrence Chongson, who is assisted by Mark Herrera.
Lee gave the Ironmen their biggest lead at 19 points, 67-48, with 29 seconds left in the third canto.
But the Ferntastics rallied behind former Ateneo guard Yuri Escueta and pulled within eight points, 61-69, with 7:06 remaining in the contest.
Cabahug, however, drained two triples and came up with a split as Cobra surged to another double-digit spread at 76-61 with five minutes to go in the contest.
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