Terrafirma is finally back in the playoffs after eight years.
The Dyip put an end to that long of a drought following a 104-96 victory over NorthPort to catch the last trip to the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup quarterfinals, Wednesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Back-to-back three-point play conversions by Juami Tiongson and Stephen Holt inside the game’s final 1:33 to pull away from a 98-96 lead were all enough to bring the franchise past the elimination round again after 16 conferences.
The last time that Terrafirma reached the quarters was in the 2016 Governors’ Cup. The team was still known as the Mahindra Enforcer, with Chris Gavina serving as interim head coach and James White suiting up as its import.
The Dyip will face the twice-to-beat San Miguel on Saturday, May 11, 3 p.m. at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum, with the squad looking to stage an upset against a team they almost beat back in the eliminations, 113-110, last April 10.
“Bilog naman ang bola,” said head coach Johnedel Cardel.
“‘Yung mga players ko, they really want to play in this quarterfinals, even though dumaan kami sa butas ng karayom. Ganoon pa rin, dadaan pa rin kami sa butas ng karayom. Gagawin namin lahat para lang makaisa kami.”
Tiongson finished with a game-high 30 points on a 52-percent clip from the field, including 4-of-7 from deep, five rebounds, and three assists.
Javi Gomez de Liano produced 21 points, 10 of which he made in the fourth quarter as he led the crucial 8-0 run toward a 95-88 lead with 4:03 left to stay ahead the rest of the way. The sophomore also had seven boards.
Holt flirted with a triple-double with 18 points, eight rebounds, and nine assists, together with four steals in yet another all-around effort. Isaac Go, ultimately, chipped in 13 points and eight boards, to go with two blocks.
“We’ve been working hard,” said sophomore Gomez de Liano. “Throughout the years, we’ve been receiving bashing and just not good reviews, but I hope with this playoff campaign that we change the narrative.”
Zav Lucero, on the other hand, had 17 points to lead the Batang Pier, who’s missing the quarterfinals for the fifth time in the last eight conferences as they witnessed the bitter end of a campaign that started out so promising.
Cade Flores had 16 points. Joshua Munzon made 15 while Arvin Tolentino and Paul Zamar added 13 and 10, respectively, for a team that seemingly couldn’t get its act together after JM Calma went down with a season-ending ACL tear.
From a 4-1 start, NorthPort lost six of its last seven games to end the tilt.
The Scores:
Terrafirma 104 – Tiongson 30, Gomez de Liano 21, Holt 18, Go 13, Ramos 7, Carino 7, Sangalang 4, Alolino 2, Calvo 2, Camson 0, Mina 0, Cahilig 0.
NorthPort 96 – Lucero 17, Flores 16, Munzon 15, Tolentino 13, Zamar 10, Navarro 9, Amores 7, Yu 4, Rosales 2, Cuntapay 2, Adamos 1, Bulanadi 0, Chan 0.
Quarterscores: 27-33, 55-54, 82-81, 104-96.
