Nueva Ecija doesn’t want to keep Quezon waiting for the last dance in the PSL President’s Cup and in front of the enemy’s territory, the Capitals willed themselves to victory in closing out the San Juan Kings, 86-83, in Game 2 of their best-of-three semifinals series late Thursday night at the Filoil-EcoOil Centre.
The Capitals bucked a slow start and survived the ejection of their most consistent player, Will McAloney, who was ejected for disqualifying foul in the second half.
But the Capitals refused to quit and put together good games from players who were more than willing to step up, most notably JP Maguliano.
A third-string center when the season started, Maguliano had to fill in the big shoes left by Michael Mabulac, who is now committed in another league, and the void left by McAloney, who got ejected after giving up a dangerous foul against the driving Martin Galinato in the second half.
McAloney finished with 18 points before being thrown out of the game due to disqualifying foul, 35 seconds left in the third period, but Maguliano came off the bench and produced 16 points .
By sweeping the Kings, the Capitals arranged a best-of-five championship showdown with the Quezon Titans.
Game 1 of the finals series begins on Tuesday at the Nueva Ecija Coliseum.
Being the higher-seeded squad, Nueva Ecija enjoys the home court advantage under the 2-2-1 format.
