Blades gun for Northern crown, national finals

The LBC Batangas Blades use the first of three cracks at the Northern Conference crown when they tangle with the Andok’s San Juan Knights at 5:30 p.m. today in the MBA Second Phase at the San Juan Gym.

Enjoying a 2-0 lead, the Blades are out to sweep their best-of-five series and clinch their first-ever league title with another road victory that would also shove them into the national finals.

"Hopefully we’ll be able to end the series on Sunday (today). The Knights are always dangerous because their confidence level is high," said Blades coach Nash Racela after their 90-66 rout of the Knights in Game Two of the Second Phase Northern Conference playoffs Friday.

"It would be a big morale boost for us if we beat them (Knights) at their home," added Racela, who’s also gunning for his first league crown.

The Blades also bested the Knights, 85-76, in Game One at the La Salle Lipa Sentrum to keep their homecourt edge under the 1-2-2 series format.

Tonyboy Espinosa and Jeffrey Sanders turned out to be the surprise package for the Blades in Game Two, taking over the scoring chores from the fancied duo of Romel Adducul and Alex Compton.

Espinosa and Sanders scored 16 points each to compensate for Adducul’s season low three-point output and Compton’s 13 points.

What poses concern for Racela, however, is the absence of Ralph Rivera, who was slapped a punching foul on Danny Capobres in Game Two. MBA commissioner Butch Antonio suspended Rivera for one game on top of a P5,000 fine.