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Magnolia Pure Water made a furious fourth quarter attack that left Bacchus bleeding for baskets down the stretch as it pulled off an 88-83 victory to advance to the finals of the 2009 PBL PG Flex Linoleum Cup yesterday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

Veterans Neil Raneses and Al Magpayo delivered the goods, knocking down a combined 13 points in the payoff period to lead the Wizards back to the finals after winning the title in 2006.

Magnolia will face five-time champion Harbour Centre in a best-of-five finals showdown which starts on Tuesday, an affair which Wizards coach Koy Banal branded as a “battle of fighting hearts.”

“I’m glad that this franchise is back to the finals and I hope we can give Harbour a good fight and a good series,” Banal said.

“We’ve been playing them in the semis for the last two conferences, and we were not able to beat them. I hope this would be the start of something good.”

The last remaining pillar in the 2004 championship team of San Miguel franchise in the amateur ranks, Raneses delivered 24 points, two steals and three blocks in an all-around display of basketball wizardry.

But it was the defense-minded, sweet-shooting Magpayo who turned things around as his intimidating inside presence left Bacchus gunners scoreless for more than five minutes, allowing the Wizards to uncork a 13-3 blast midway in the final canto.

Magpayo had 14 points and 10 rebounds while JP Alcaraz and Dylan Ababou chipped in 18 and 16 points, respectively for the Wizards, who fell by as much as 12, 50-62, in the third canto.

“Our experience came out in the fourth quarter,” said Banal, owner of numerous championship rings from the collegiate and professional ranks. “Their zone defense in the first half limited our scorers. But in the end, it was our heart that carried us through.”

Best Player of the Conference frontrunner Paul Lee was held to only 12 points while hotshot Patrick Cabahug had only five points in a miserable one-for-six from beyond the arc.

Instead, it was Pari Llagas who led the way for Bacchus with 21 points while the backcourt tandem of James Martinez and Rudy Lingganay nailed 17 and 14 points, respectively.

The scores:

Magnolia (88) — Raneses 24, Alcaraz 18, Ababou 16, Magpayo 14, Balneg 6, Pascual 4, Losentes 3, Taylor 3, Amparado 0, Rodriguez 0, Saldua 0.

Bacchus (83) — Llagas 21, Martinez 17, Lingganay 14, Lee P. 12, Colina 8, Cabahug 5, Fortune 4, Fampulme 2, Acuna 0, Foronda 0, Lee R. 0, Guevarra 0..

Quarter scores: 26-30; 47-48; 66-71; 88-83