With their backs against the wall, the Super Sealers pulled off a 79-72 victory Saturday to send their quarterfinal duel with the Comets to this do-or-die contest set at 3 p.m.
Khiel Misa fired 16 points last Saturday with Kelvin Gregorio, Marcy Arellano and Gilbert Malabanan chipping in 15, 13 and 12 points, respectively, to keep Henkel-Sista’s head above water.
"We played as if it was our last, and that really helped us," said Henkel-Sista coach Caloy Garcia.
It also helped that Mail and More coach Lawrence Chongson wasn’t at the bench as he was out of the country. He’s back for today’s game.
Allan Gregorio tried to carry the coaching chores in the absence of Chongson, but he couldn’t steer the Comets to a win that would have sent them into a best-of-five semis showdown with the Hapee Teeth Sparklers.
The Comets hope that the return of Chongson, who coached the team to a surprising 7-3 (win-loss) record in the classification phase, would give them the needed boost in the rubber match.
To keep their semis hopes alive, the Super Sealers also contained bullstrong JR Quinahan, the Most Valuable Player statistical race leader who was held to just seven points, way below his average.
Garcia said he expects Mail and More to make some adjustments.
"Our game plan worked so I expect them to make the adjustments. We need to be ready for that," said Garcia.
Meanwhile, the league has yet to decide on the protest filed by CL-Pera Padala regarding its 83-86 loss to Harbour Centre over the weekend.
The Moneymen cited inconsistent calls during the game that enabled the Port Masters to advance into the semis against the Toyota Otis Sparks.