Mobil is in the semifinals. Pacific Island Club is not.

Thanks to Armatech, which pulled off a 67-64 spoiler against the stunned PIC in the final regular season game in the Emon Lodge No. 179 Brotherhood Basketball League 2013/Docomo Pacific Cup last Saturday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

PIC’s loss gave value to Mobil’s 92-82 victory over Mariana Resort last Saturday. Before their last assignment in the regular season, PIC and Mobil were tied in second place with their similar 5-2 records and the former would have had the edge in case of another deadlock due to the winner-over-the other rule and would have joined the unbeaten AXE Proa (8-0) to the semifinals.

The two outright semis berths were given to the Top 2 finishers in the round-robin regular season and PIC almost punched the last ticket, but it slipped away from its hands in less than a minute.

An Elmer Esdrelon triple from the left key put PIC’s semis bid in jeopardy, as Armatech grabbed the lead, 64-63, after trailing by as much as 13 in the first two minutes of the fourth canto, 43-56. Armatech could have seized the driver’s seat earlier after breaking the seven-point barrier, 47-63, however it muffed several layups going into the last four minutes of the match before Esdrelon and Junar Guiab connected on back-to-back jumpers to move within 1.

PIC, which savored its double-digit lead too much, then felt the pressure on its next offensive set, as it failed to make a basket. Armatech then pushed up the ball with Brendon Talania, who kept his team in the game, scoring 8 straight points in the fourth, poised to pull up for another jumper. However, Talania overheard coach Pando Muleta telling him to swing the ball to Esdrelon, who was wide open for a trey, and the former obliged, giving Armatech a shaky one-point lead, 56 seconds remaining on the clock.

Now down, PIC continued to get rattled and took two hurried shots and muffed both of them. Guiab controlled the rebound and put money on the bank with his two charities to silence the PIC supporters. A desperation trey from Darwin Barbo went off the rim and PIC was forced to commit a duty foul after another miss. Talania split his charities to seal it for Armatech, which is in standoff with PIC and KFC for the third to fifth place in the team standings. The three tied squads and Mariana Resort (4-5) will fight for the last two semis slots tomorrow. The pairings for the Tuesday’s win-or-go-home games will be announced once the triple-tie is resolved (via quotient system).

KFC got into the three-team logjam after winning via forfeiture against the Ol’Aces (1-7) in the first game last Saturday. The first match in last Thursday’s schedule was also called off after a no-show from both the Ol’Aces and San Roque, which joined the winless Blazers (0-8) in the showers.

THURSDAY

Mobil 92 – Pelisamen 28, Peredo 14, Ruluked 13, Rabauliman 12, Estolas 11, Babauta 2.

Mariana Resort 82 – Mangali 20, Galarse 15, Sison 15, Joyner 13, Moises 10,Fitial 3, Dayrit 2.

Scoring by quarters: 21-18, 42-40, 69-62, 92-82.

SATURDAY

Armatech 67 – Talania 30, Esdrelon 14, David 9, Guiab 6, Berline 4, Ano 3.

PIC 63 – Demapan 13, Barbo 11, Hambros 10, Ne. Salem 9, Abuy 7, Duenas 7, Isip 2.

Scoring by quarters: 10-23, 28-37, 43-52, 67-63.