Elite, Warriors go for title rematch

MANILA, Philippines - Blackwater Sports and NLEX shoot for another pair of wins against Jumbo Plastic and Cebuana Lhuillier, respectively, as they try to seal a rematch for the PBA D League Foundation Cup crown at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig today.

The defending champion Elite easily dispatched the Giants in the opener of their best-of-three series, 84-70, making them the solid favorites to score a repeat in their 12 noon showdown for a return trip to the finals. 

In contrast, NLEX needed a closing 11-6 spurt to put away the Gems in their own side of the semis clash, 70-60, giving the Road Warriors something to worry about as they head to their 2 p.m. encounter. 

“We want to finish this (series) sooner than later. We don’t want to give them any opportunity to turn this series around,” said Leo Isaac, the Blackwater Sports coach.

He added his troops are very much excited to return to the Finals even as they vowed to raise their game a notch higher to finish off the Giants.

“We’ll improve a lot better in Game 2 and we’ll take our confidence to the next level,” said Isaac, who will again be pinning his hopes on Reil Cervantes, Jericho Cruz and Kevin Ferrer.