Pampanga, San Juan eye North finals duel

Pampanga and San Juan try to forge a North Division finals tussle when they tackle separate rivals in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Fifth Season Playoffs on Friday at the Nueva Ecija Coliseum in Palayan City.

While the Pampanga Giant Lanterns are predicted to cruise past the Batang Kankaloo at 6 p.m., the San Juan Knights are expected to have a bumpy ride against the defending champion Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards at 8 p.m.

Flaunting a deeper, taller roster, the Giant Lanterns overpowered the Batang Kankaloo, 74-63, in Game 1 of their best-of-three semifinal series on 27 October.

In contrast, the Knights needed to climb out of a 14-point hole in the third quarter and lean on the sterling plays of Orlan Wamar to stun the Rice Vanguards, 86-82, in the opener of a similar series.

In last year's North finals, San Juan snapped Nueva Ecija's 25-win run in Game 1 only to drop the next two, allowing the Giant Lanterns to clinch the division title before proceeding to beat South Division champion Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines in the National Finals.

Powered by Justine Baltazar, Louie Sangalang and Encho Serrano, Pampanga sealed the outcome with a 70-41 spread early in the final quarter, before allowing Caloocan to narrow the gap somewhat behind the 15-point explosion of Paul Sanga in that span.

Baltazar, the Most Valuable Player race pacesetter, posted 17 points, 14 rebounds, three steals, three assists to run away with the best player honors and lift the Giant Lanterns to their 13th win at home.

Pampanga Gov. Dennis Pineda, also the Giant Lanterns' head coach, will also bank on Archie Concepcion, Neil Tolentino, Jayson Castro Apolonio and Arwind Santos to sweep the veteran-laden Caloocan.