WITH a strong finishing kick, Terrafirma ended eight futile years of missed appearances in the PBA playoffs.
Putting together a 19-10 closing barrage, the Dyip hammered out a 104-96 victory over NorthPort to catch the last bus to the Philippine Cup quarterfinals Wednesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Javi Gomez de Liano, Juami Tiongson and Stephen Holt - key components of Terrafirma's ambitious turnaround - ignited the searing wind-up that finally towed the Dyip to the Final-8 after failing to make the cut in the last 16 conferences.
A taller task now awaits the charges of coach John Cardel as they need to beat top seed and defending champion San Miguel Beer twice in the quarters if they want to move further into the semifinals.
"Syempre mahirap. They're all superstars. They have (June Mar) Fajardo, wings, shooters. Fifteen players, kahit sino ipasok ni coach Jorge (Gallent) talagang magko-contribute," said Cardel, looking forward to his first quarters stint at the helm versus mighty SMB.
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"Bilog naman ang bola, eh. And lahat ng players ko they really want to play in the quarterfinals, even though dumaan kami sa butas ng karayom. Dadaan uli kami sa butas ng karayom (against SMB) pero gagawin namin ang lahat," he added.
Gomez de Liano punched in 10 of his 21 in the payoff period, sparking the Dyip's late pullaway with two triples sandwiching a pair of buckets.
Tiongson finished with a game-high 31, which he highlighted with a clutch trey and And-1 play in the last 1:33. Holt shot 18, six of them in Terrafirma's bombardment down the stretch.
Zav Lucero, with 17, showed the way for the Batang Pier, who didn't reach the Last-8 for the second time in the last three conferences. (OL)
The Scores:
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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.
QUARTERS: 27-33, 55-54, 82-81, 104-96
