Ana, Welcoat forge title series

Rey Mendez and Ronald Tubid stepped up when Ana Water's starters failed to deliver as they powered the defending champion Dispensers to their second final appearance with a 69-61 victory over an injury-laden Blu Detergents yesterday in the first of two sudden deaths for the Yakult-PBL Challenge Final at the Makati Coliseum.

Welcoat clinched the other final berth by subduing Red Bull, 80-71, in a fiery fourth quarter run in other the encounter.

The Paintmasters unloaded a stirring 10-0 run in the last four minutes behind Jojo Manalo and Dino Aldeguer to complete the stunning reversal.

Game One of the best-of-five title series begins Thursday.

Mendez held his own in defense but dished out a gem of an offensive game as he fired a game-high 16 points, eight of which came in a pivotal third quarter when the Dispensers ripped the game open.

And Tubid came up with a big game unlikely from a rookie as he pumped in 14 points while shackling Blu's ace scorer Ernesto Billones most of the way.

Tubid stood at the forefront of Ana's scoring run that gave the Dispensers a 41-29 lead at the turn before Mendez took over in the third to power the team to a 53-34 bulge.

Those solid offensive games by Mendez and Tubid took the load off Paolo Mendoza, Ana's top scorer who had a woeful three-of-13 shooting clip from the field and finished with only eight points.

But that hardly mattered for the Dispensers even when the Detergent Kings made one last run in the closing minutes as Tubid and Mendez, a member of the champion team which foiled Tanduay's title bid on its farewell stint last year, stepped up to seal the first berth in the best-of-five title series.