Metrostars sweep Pirates; Gems force rubber match

The Manila Metrostars reasserted their supremacy over the Pasig-Rizal Pirates as they ran away with an emphatic 85-76 victory yesterday to arrange an MBA Northern Conference title showdown with the San Juan Knights.

The Metrostars threw the full weight of their vaunted offensive might in the fourth quarter en route to duplicating their 89-80 victory over the same team last week in Pasig. It will be the Metrostars’ third straight Northern Conference Final appearance.

With the home crowd at the San Andres Sports Complex cheering in wild abandon for every Manila conversion, the Metrostars responded with a splendid game throughout, although they needed to come up with one big scoring splurge midway in the fourth to ensure the victory.

That set them up for a final matchup in their side of the conference with the Knights, who also posted a similar 2-0 sweep of semifinal rival Laguna Lakers.

Alex Compton came up with another explosive game and finished with 16 points while Peter Martin and Romel Adducul stepped up to combine for 23 points, 21 rebounds and three shot blocks.

Earlier, the Cebu Gems refused to crack up under pressure and repulsed the Iloilo Megavoltz, 91-86, to force a rubber match in their MBA Southern Conference semifinal showdown.

Matthew Mitchell and Stephen Padilla atoned for their so-so performances in Cebu’s 98-100 loss in their series’ opener as they took charge down the stretch while the rest backed them up with a gritty defense to defuse the Megavoltz’s rally.

The Gems, whose stirring 13-game run, capped by their victory in the Intra-Con phase, was snapped by the Megavoltz last week, held their rivals to only five points in the last five minutes to send their best-of-three series to a deciding match on Wednesday.

And the Gems will have the proverbial homecourt edge when they gun for a championship berth, an advantage the Megavoltz had failed to cash in on yesterday.

The ongoing renovation of the Megavoltz’ home court at the University of San Agustin gym in Iloilo had forced the MBA to hold the match at the San Andres venue and the Gems were spared by the jeers and distractions from a boisterous Iloilo crowd.

However, the Megavoltz played heads-up game majority of the contest, wresting the lead at the end of the third quarter and sustaining it midway in the fourth until they succumbed to the Gems’ tough defense and clutch baskets from medium range.

Padilla delivered the goods from the outside and finished with 18 points, while Mitchell forced the issue underneath where he scored the bulk of his topscoring 28-point output. He also had 17 rebounds.