Probac drubbed undermanned BBC, 91-78, while the Province of Negros Occidental squandered a late lead, before recovering for an 85-83 victory Tuesday to reach the semifinals of the Class A division of the 8th Tan Kek Pin Cup Memorial Basketball Tournament at the Po Hang Gym.

The wins gave Probac and Province slots in the single-round semifinals which begin today. Talisay and undefeated World of Fun clinched automatic semis seats after topping the elimination round.

After holding a slim 39-38 edge at halftime, Probac came up big in the second half as Mark Sabusap and Ryan Concha put the finishing touches in the searing assault sparked by Paolo Li, Ariston Sillana and Chad Paez in the third period.

BBC played minus big men Jojo Miravalles and Laurence Cornelio and Probac seemed to have capitalized on their absence with Sabusap and Aldrich Apuang also frolicking on offense.

Joebert Pastias was the lone bright spot for BBC with 19 points. He and Eduard Quizan, kept BBC in the game in the first half, combining for 19 points,

In contrast, Probac managed to draw firepower from its deep roster with Paez contributing 12, the same output of Apuang, and Sabusap posting 14 markers.

Ryan Lorana contributed 14 for BBC, while Quizan and Paul Pineda added 12 and 8, respectively.

Province zoomed to a 27-14 lead with Romil Defensor taking charge, before Bapro caught fire in the final period to pave the way for the thrilling finish.

After GE Quizan gave Bapro its first taste of the lead with a split from the stripe, Marlon Talatala responded with a triple to put Province ahead again. A pair of Quizan free throws tied it again, before Province held them scoreless inside the final 2:22, while hitting three important charities.

Bert Celis typified the stellar defensive effort when he stole off Quizan with 3 ticks remaining to seal Bapro’s doom.

Rex Bayer and Defensor led Province with 17 apiece.

Quizan paced Bapro with 17, while Andrew Deles and Andren added 15 and 13, respectively.*CPT

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