Upset rocked opening night of the PSL President’s Cup semifinals as dark horse teams Quezon and Nueva Ecija pulled off similar easy wins against their more favored rivals late Tuesday night at the Alonte Sports Center.
The Titans of Quezon came out more energized a few days coming off the Holy Week break and executed their game plan to perfection by completely outplaying the Biñan Tatak Gel, 85-61, to move on threshold of advancing to the championship round of this tournament and on the verge of knocking out the No.1 team entering the playoffs.
Quezon held the usually explosive Biñan team below 40 points in the first three quarters as its defense worked double time.
The Titans shackled Tatak Gel, holding them to just 33% shooting from the field (20-of-59).
Equally impressive was Nueva Ecija, which dealt San Juan a sound beating, 95-86, and likewise moved within striking distance of advancing to the finals.
Defense was also the calling card of Nueva Ecija in grounding the Kings, who was held down to just 37% shooting from the field.
Offensively, the Capitals displayed a more balance production as six players finished in double figures.
Byron Villarias went on a perfect shooting spree, sinking all his six attempts from the field and winding up with 15 points.
Will McAloney produced 14 points, Chris Bitoon contributed 13, Eman Calo had 12, Billy Robles chipped in 11 and Mike Juico came up with 10 for the Capitals, who shot a steady 52% from the field (31-of-59) and hit 12-of-24 shots from beyond the arc.
The Capitals and the Titans go for the jugular on Thursday and try to set up an exciting championship series.
