Toyota zooms in on semis

Toyota roared to its third straight win as it trounced Granny Goose Tortillos, 73-64, last night and zeroed in on the first semifinal berth in the 2006 PBL Unity Cup at the Olivarez Sports Center in Parañaque.

JV Casio and Aaron Aban combined in the Sparks’ crucial surge down the stretch where they blanked the Snackmasters, 6-0, to stretch their lead to 70-62 heading into last 1:08 of the contest.

With the win, the Sparks improved to 9-3 for the solo lead, needing only to win one of their last two games to claim one of two outright semis berths.

The Snackmasters slipped to 6-6, thus jeopardizing their bid for an automatic semis berth.

Earlier, TeleTech blew a 12-point lead in the third period but recovered in time to pound out a 76-72 victory over Hapee-PCU yesterday and keep its flickering quarterfinal hopes alive.

The Titans went to their defense when their offense began to sputter.

Francis Mercado scattered 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter while Niño Gelig and Dondon Villamin tallied 13 points apiece to help power the Titans to only their third victory in 12 games.

"We complemented our solid defense with our good shooting. But I’m happy with our win, at least we proved that we have the heart," said coach Jerry Codiñera.

But making it through the next round via the backdoor would be tough for the Titans.

First, they have to hurdle Rain or Shine on Saturday and hope that they beat Harbour Centre by a huge margin next week.

But if the Port Masters prevail in one of their last three games, the Titans will be eliminated outright.

The same thing goes for the Teethmasters, who took their sixth straight loss for a 3-9 record. Hapee must also sweep its last two games, including against Magnolia Ice Cream. They must also hope that the Spinners will drop their two other games — quite impossible.

Both the Port Masters and Spinners tote similar 5-6 records.

The Teethmasters managed to knot the count at 70-all after a long and hard chase starting in the third quarter. But the Titans refused to give as Francis Mercado came through with a clutch basket and Axel Doruelo hit two free throws following a costly error by Ronald Bucao with 23 seconds remaining.