MANILA, Philippines - Hapee went on a fiery third quarter run to blast Café France, 70-55, while Cagayan Valley overcame a slow start to crush a depleted Jumbo Plastic side, 82-74, as they kept their unbeaten runs and the 1-2 posts halfway through the elimination round of the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup at the Marikina Sports Complex yesterday.
Bobby Ray Parks shot a game-high 20 points and Garvo Lanete added 14 markers for the Fresh Fighters, who encountered stiff challenge in the first half before outscoring the Bakers in the pivotal third, 20-8, en route to a league-best 7-0 card.
“I thought our defense made the difference. The guys are just too willing to play defense against Café’s key players,” said Hapee coach Ronnie Magsanoc.
The PBA D-League is telecast on Mondays and Thursdays from 6 p.m. up to 11 p.m. over ATC@IBC.
Maverick Ahanmisi scored 13 points while Alvin Abundo and Michael Noble had 10 apiece for the Bakers, who led 36-35 at the half but struggled with their offense in the last 20 minutes of play. Café France fell to 5-2.
Earlier, Eric Salamat and Abel Galliguez took charge for the Rising Suns in the second quarter as Moala Tautuaa struggled, rallying the team to a 37-30 lead at the turn after trailing 14-18 after the first 10 minutes of play.
The Rising Suns continued their domination at resumption before slowing down in the fourth en route to victory marred by the ejection of coach Alvin Pua at the start of the third for contacting a game official.
“I just had one of those bad days. I started off really slow. I was looking to pass more at the beginning and I knew the double team was coming because I was bigger but I kind of struggled,” said Tautuaa, who, however, scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, most of them on dunks and alley-oops, to finish with a game-high 16 points.
“We pulled it off together in the second half,” added Tautuaa, who looked at the ejection of Pua as a blessing. “He showed our character and fights for us. His ejection just fired us up in the second half.”
Galliguez came off the bench to fire 14 points that went with his five assists and three steals while Randy Dilay added 11 markers for the Rising Suns, who outscored the Giants, 23-12, in the second quarter to wrest control.
The Giants recruited Miguel Tiongson and three-point shooter Philip Paniamogan to beef up their roster but neither of the two clicked. Tiongson and Paniamogan managed just eight points apiece.