SUDDEN DEATH MONDAY IN D-LEAGUE PLAY
Underdogs Cebuana Lhuillier and newcomer Bread Story-Lyceum go for the clincher on Monday in their respective PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup quarterfinal match-ups at the San Juan Arena.
Momentum and psychological advantage will be on the side of the Gems and the Pirates, who lived another day with impressive victories over fourth-seed Jumbo Plastic and third seed Café France, respectively, last Thursday to force the rubber-match.
The Gems defeated the Giants, 63-53, while the Pirates outplayed the Bakers, 79-72, to keep their hopes of advancing to the next round and join semifinalists-in-waiting Cagayan Valley and Hapee alive.
The Rising Suns, who swept the 11-game elimination round, and the Fresh Fighters gained outright passage in the best-of-three semifinals by clinching the top two seeds.
“Its 50-50,” said Cebuana Lhuillier coach Boycie Zamar of their chances to repeat in the scheduled 2 p.m. duel. “[Jumbo] is a strong team. I’m sure they’ll make their adjustments. The good thing is everything is even. It now all depends on the mindset of the players.”
Cebuana’s backcourt of Paul Zamar, Allan Mangahas and Simon Enciso combined for 40 points as the Gems avenged their 61-63 loss to the Giants in the eliminations.
Zamar claimed his troops have the tendency to doubt themselves when playing elite teams but believes Thursday’s win has changed their outlook and boosted the confidence of the Gems.
Philip Paniamogan tallied 14 points and new recruit Glenn Khobuntin added 12 for the Jumbo Plastic Giants but big men Maclean Sabelina, Jaymo Eguilos, Dexter Maiquez and Dennis Villamor struggled, combining for nine points on 4 of 17 shooting.
Bottom line, the Giants’ frontline must deliver if Jumbo Plastic intends to advance to the Final Four.
Bonnie Tan, the Bread Story-Lyceum coach, also thinks their 4 p.m. showdown with the Bakers could go either way although he is confident his chargs will rise to the challenge.
“Nobody expected us to be here. In fact, we’ve been counted out midway into the eliminations. I thought those negativity worked well for us. It challenged the players. I guess they want to prove they belong in this league,” Tan said.
Jackson Corpuz and Giovani Jalalon, who toyed with Café France’s backcourt, scored 21 points apiece to show the way for the Pirates, who dominated the poor shooting Bakers.
Café France shot a woeful 31percent from the field (24 of 77) while going 3 of 30 from 3-point range.
“Binigay na yung isa. Isang Hakbang na lang. Siguro 50-50 pa rin. But hopefully, we learned something from this victory and capitalized on it,” Tan said. (DBC)
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