MANILA, Philippines — Pampanga and San Juan arranged a date in the MPBL North Division finals as Nueva Ecija’s reign came to an end after a tough home loss at the Nueva Ecija Coliseum in Palayan City.
The top-seeded Giant Lanterns trounced the No. 4 Caloocan Batang Kankaloo, 93-77, in Game 2 while the sixth-ranked San Juan Knights came away with a big 88-80 road win against the No. 2 Rice Vanguards.
Both squads completed a 2-0 sweep to march on to the best-of-three division championship.
Five players hit twin digits led by Encho Serrano with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting laced by two rebounds and six assists as the Giant Lanterns followed up their 74-63 win in Game 1.
Team captain Justine Baltazar collared a near triple-double of 16 points, 20 rebounds and seven assists on top of two steals and a block while John Lloyd Clemente (14), Michael John Garcia (14) and Archie Concepcion (13) threw in help.