Bingo Pilipino stretched its sizzling winning streak to five games and finally secured a slot in the PBL Chairman's Cup semifinals with an 82-76 win over Dazz Dishwashing Paste at the Makati Coliseum yesterday.
Michael Robinson scored a game-high 18 points while Jerome Barbosa turned in another sterling all-round game with 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists as the Bingonaryos outmaneuvered the Greasebusters in the final half, taking a semis seat by closing their elimination-round stint with a 6-4 win-loss record.
The Greasebusters face the spectre of going through a playoff for the last semis spot as they ended up with a 4-6 card.
"I have to give it to the boys, maganda na ang takbo ng laro nila unlike before na kanya-kanya sa loob ng court," said Bingo Pilipino coach Bernie Fabiosa.
"We had a hard time matching up with Dazz because it is a much taller team. Defense did it for us," he added.
True enough, the Bingonaryos dished out a solid defense, specially in the fourth quarter where Bingo Pilipino held Dazz scoreless for a four-minute stretch at one point.
The Bingonaryos took the fight away from the Greasebusters as they pulled away to 73-62 on a 9-0 run entering the last three minutes of play.