THE PANTHERS overcame a ravaging second-half performance by the Lions and outlasted the latter in overtime, 71-67, to punch their way back to the Elite Basketball Club Cebu season six finals on Sunday night at the Visayan Glass Gym in Guadalupe.
Mark Panerio and Neil Buot delivered for the Panthers in overtime, with the latter hitting a wide-open three pointer with 14.6 seconds left to close out the game.
Panerio finished with 28 points while Buot chalked up added markers.
The Lions “Big Three” Josephus Rusiana, Chriad Bacalso, and Clint Caritan scored 20, 13, and 12 points, respectively but their double-digit efforts were not enough to put them back in the finals. The Lions were champions of last season’s Sinulog Cup.
In the Finals, the Panthers will face the Seahawks, who defeated the Rams, 81-80, in the other semis pairing.