It will be Muntinlupa versus Batangas City for the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League Anta Rajah Cup championship.

The Angelis Resort-backed Cagers fought back from 14 points down before pulling off an 81-70 triumph over the Gamboa Coffee-supported Parañaque Patriots before a jampacked crowd at the Muntinlupa Sports Complex Tuesday night.

The Cagers drew inspiration from the hometown crowd and found an unlikely source of energy off the bench as Dhon Reverente played the best game of the conference.

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Reverente finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds. His scoring output matched his career-high while also recording a career high in rebounds. He provided the spark needed by the Cagers, who fought back from a 48-34 deficit before securing victory.

Chito Jaime carried the brunt of the Cagers' offense, as he finished with 22 points on top of 6 boards.

The Cagers also got their usual balance scoring, as Allan Mangahas tallied 18 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Felix Apreku also had a monster game, scoring 11 and grabbing 16 boards.

Harold Arboleda led the Patriots with 18 points.

With only a day to prepare, the Cagers will travel to Batangas City on Thursday to start their best-of-5 championship series.

The Tanduay-backed Athletics have yet to lose at home and they want to carry that momentum heading into the championship series that has a format of two-two-one, which will give Batangas City three home games.

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