Led by captain Jay Bengco and backed by Jimmy Urbano as well as Ruel Santoc, Edu Toledo, Aileen Miralbuna and Dariel Loquias, Pin Crushers hurdled their match against Cool Guys to be in the finals against Ekis-6 at the end of the stepladder one in the FEDBG-FMBL 15th Conference at the Bowling City here.

Prior to this match, Lance & 3rdy narrowly beat playoff survivor Fine Boys (FB) Rhinos at total pinfalls of 1177-1153. Lance & 3rdy team manager Evelyn Santoc led with 230 and team captain Ric Reformado inspired teammates with 223 to claim 24-pin advantage overFB team chief Rod Lofamia and Oliver Robles who carded 211 and 218. Jun Estefano, Marcelo Manalo, Med Ramos and Joey Calapatia matched up with Rommel Calingasan, Peter Colcol, Mel Llanes and Simeon Dellosa at 724-all.

Advancing against Cool Guys, Lance & 3rdy met the 4-player offense of George Mangaliman, skipper Jun de Dios, Salic Mudag and Rene Punzalan, who had respective efforts of 238, 207, 209 and 200 for 854 total negating the 814 from the quartet of Manalo, Estefano, Calapatia and Ramos. Cool Guys took control when Mark Punzalan and Serge Rivera outscored Santoc and Reformado at 371-349 to eventually advance on final tallies of 1225-1163.

Cool Guys started the ultimate match on high morale with six-mark advantage on handicap against the defensive Pin Crushers listed at 167-110. Bengco, Urbano and Santoc were determined to narrow the gap with their early strings of strikes to which expected blockers on the other side hardly responded. The halfway point of the match seemed unfriendly for Santoc so that Bengco and Urbano have to hit harder as Mangaliman, De Dios and Mudag found their strides raising specter of an upset.

But Bengco, determined to meet Ekis-6 in the finals, pushed for strike-out and led with 243. Sensing signal from their skipper, Urbano superbly responded with 235 making an upset gloomier especially when Mangaliman hit an open last frame for Cool Guys. This ensured Pin Crushers’ entry to finals as Santoc, Toledo, Loquias and Miralbuna provided most needed respective supports of 192, 192, 186 and 175 to be in the championship on totals of 1223. Cool Guys settled for second runner-up in this conference on 1174 built by Mudag 206, de Dios 198, Mangaliman 196, Rivera 188, R. Punzalan 179 and Mark Punzalan 207.

This Friday, Pin Crushers will face the waiting top finalist Ekis-6 which is heavily favored to lift the champion trophy. On Ekis-6 roster are Zaldy Bacero, Rey Beltran, Faisal Relativo, Jimmy Mandingiado, Malou Gime and team head Ernie Geslani.