DEFENDING champion GMA-7 Kapuso ended its elimination round campaign with a tight 67-64 win over Sun.Star/Bombo Radyo yesterday in the 2013 Newsmen Basketball Association of Cebu (NBAC) at the Cebu Coliseum.
With the win, GMA-7 advanced to the semifinal round as the number one seed after ending the eliminations with a clean 4-0 (win-loss) card.
The top two teams in the semis will have twice-to-beat edges against their lower-ranked foes.
Reigning Most Valuable Player (MVP) Gabriel Bonjoc led the way for GMA-7 with 19 points, while Godfrey Rellin added 11. Juril Patiño scattered 23 points, Philip Cerojano piled up 17 for Sun.Star/Bombo Radyo, which slid to 1-2.
In the second game, Cebu Catholic Television Network (CCTN)-47 finally bagged its first victory at the expense of the winless ABS-CBN Kapamilya, 76-52.
Rodel Quimod topped CCTN with 20 markers, while Edgar Escalante paced ABS-CBN with 28 points. CCTN improved to 1-2, while ABS-CBN dropped to 0-3.
Games will resume on Sunday with The Freeman/Cebu Daily News (CDN) Red Shamans tackling CCTN-47 in the first game and ABS-CBN colliding with Sun.Star/Bombo Radyo in the second game./EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CALVIN D. CORDOVA