D-LEAGUE: CAFE FRANCE LOOKING TO BOUNCE BACK
Café France coach Egay Macaraya hopes his troops have deleted Monday’s loss to league-leader Hapee from their memory banks.
The Fresh Fighters (7-0) overcame a strong charge by Café France (5-2) in the first half and came away with a 70-55 romp that practically dimmed whatever chances the Bakers had entertained to clinch an outright semifinal berth.
“We did everything right in the first half. But sad to say the guys forgot that a basketball game is played for four quarters,” observed Macaraya of their collapse in the second half.
“There’s a lot of lessons that could be learned from that loss,” admitted Macaraya, hoping the Bakers, although still licking their wounds, could bounce back against Bread Story-LPU on Thursday as they try to hang on to the coveted no. 3 spot.
Game time is set at 2 p.m. at the Ynares Arena in Pasig City.
“[Bread Story-LPU] is a running team. Hopefully we can catch up with them and make stops,” Macaraya said.
Bread Story-LPU (2-4) tries to avoid a second straight loss to stay in hunt for a quarterfinal spot. But it hasn’t played since a 89-97 loss to AMA University last Dec. 1 and could be out of game shape.
In the first game, Tanduay Light (3-4) looks to win three straight games and enhance its chances for a quarterfinal berth when it clashes with Racal Motors at 12 noon.
“It’s a tough climb. We’re struggling every game so really have to be disciplined and stay focused every game,” said Tanduay Light coach Lawrence Chongson.
The top two teams after the single round eliminations advance to the semifinals outright. The next four teams earn spots in the quarterfinal round with the third and fourth ranked teams earning a twice to beat advantage.
The last six teams will be eliminated. (DBC)
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