The Patriots rode on another splendid performance from their veteran guards before turning to the 6-foot-10 American Jason Dixon who provided the finishing touches to complete a sweep of their best-of-three semifinal series.
The squad co-owned by Harbour Centre Mikee Romero and Tony Boy Cojuangco, will face either the Singapore Slingers or Satria Muda BritAma of Indonesia in the finals. The Indons forced a playoff in their own semis series with a convincing 74-45 win.
Dixon had 22 points, including a completed three-point play that gave the Patriots a breather, 68-63, with a little over two minutes left. He also had 11 rebounds for his 12th double-double in 14 games.
"We were very complacent in the first half," said coach Louie Alas. "Luckily, we were able to talk to ourselves at halftime that we must keep our toughness on the defensive end and I guess that's the story of the game."
Gabe Freeman had 6-of-18 shooting from the field but still finished with 17 boards and 12 boards.
The backcourt tandem of Jaypee Alcaraz and Warren Ybanez overcame early foul trouble to finish with seven points, four rebounds and two assists and five points, four assists and two steals, respectively.
But one of the key factors for their win was forward Jerwin Gaco, who used his defensive skills to provide the spark they needed. Gaco wound up with six points, one rebound, one assist, and one block.
"We relied too much on our imports and we rarely attacked the basket in the first half," said Alas. "But when Jerwin came in the third quarter, he was attacking aggressively. That was the key because JP, Warren and Christian (Coronel) followed suit."
The scores:
RP PATRIOTS 70 — Dixon 22, Freeman 17, Alcaraz 7, Wainwright 6, Gaco 6, Ybanez 5, Coronel 5,
Sta Maria 2, Acuna 0, Baclao 0.
KL DRAGONS 65 — Kuete 20, Lingganay 13, Loh 12, Brown 11, Hugnatan 7, Wee 0, Ng 0, Koh 0, Chee 0.
Quarters: 13-22; 32-40; 50-55; 70-65.
Source: Jonas Terrado | Manila Bulletin
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