The Road to Championship (part 5)

1 more win was what the Nokkers needed to get a playoff berth but it would have to come at the expense of the El Grande team. The 1st quarter started out pretty strong for the NY Noks with the starting 5 doing everything from scoring outside, inside and rebounding all over the court and with JP Pangilinan and Miko Sabado leading the attack and pressuring El Grande's ball handlers, the CTC boys got onto a head start with an 8 point lead. The second quarter was a different story with the El Grande boys lead by star center Paolo Salonga pounding the ball inside and catching up to the Nokkers and taking the lead by 3 going into halftime. The 3rd quarter was an even battle all through out but in the final minutes of the quarter,the El Grande team added 3 points to their lead, leading by 6 going into the final quarter. The coaching staff of NY Noks decided to pressure the ball handlers of the El Grande 5 which proved to be successful in the 1st quarter. The Noks team used man to man full court press and cut the lead to 3 with a minute remaining in the game. The Noks team orchestrated a wide open 3 point shot play for JP Pangilinan but the El Grande team was quick to react, double teaming JP Pangilinan in the right corner. JP Pangilinan saw Rod Coronel free on top of the key and passed it to him to take a desperation 3 point shot which hit nothing but net. With the score tied, the NY Noks decided to drop the press and use honest defense in the dying seconds of the game, but Guiller Salumbides pressured El Grande's leading scorer Miguel Bernundo and accidentally fouled him which made the final 2 free throws to ice the game for his team. It was a heart breaking loss for the Noks team which needed to win 1 of the last 2 games to enter the playoffs. JP Pangilinan led all scorers with 18 points.