JV Casio fired a conference-high 30 points highlighted by a barrage of three-pointers as he led the Nationals in a big second half of a 100-88 victory over Ginebra Wednesday night to stay alive in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals at the Araneta Coliseum.

The pesky playmaker out of La Salle poured in 14 points in a game-turning third quarter run by the Nationals, who staved off outright eliminations by winning Game 3 of the best-of-five series.

Game 4 is on Easter Sunday with Smart Gilas hoping to ride the momentum of its first win in the Final Four playoffs.

“We’re the national team and we want to prove something," said Casio, who punctuated his brilliant offensive game by hitting 7-of-9 from beyond the arc.

“We just want to stay alive and keep competing."

That’s what the Nationals actually did even after trailing by as many as 27-36 in the first half as back up center Yancy de Ocampo surprised Smart Gilas by connecting on three straight three-pointers.

But the national squad unleashed a furious third quarter run when it outscored the league’s most popular ball club, 35-18, and grabbed a 74-67
lead entering the final 12 minutes of play.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Casio hiked the lead to 82-70 at the 8:34 mark, prompting Ginebra coach Jong Uichico to sue for a timeout.

With JC Intal coming off the bench and hitting his stride, the Kings managed to pull to within 83-75, but the Nationals came through with a closing 9-5 run for a safe 94-80 lead on a tap-in by Aldrich Ramos off a missed free throw by Marcus Douthit at the final two-minute mark.

Douthit finished with 25 points for Pilipinas-Smart Gilas, which limited the Kings below 90 points after averaging 103.5 points in the first two games of the series.

The Nationals also had a game-high 13 blocks.

A game after scoring a season-high 45 points, Nate Brumfield finished with 30 points to pace the Kings.

De Ocampo was the only local to finish in double figures for the Kings with 13 as Mark Caguioa, who had been a major factor for Ginebra in Games 1 and 2, was held down to just seven markers. - RCJ, GMA News