Revellers seek DL title vs Jawbreakers

MANILA, Philippines — Che’Lu Bar and Grill-San Sebastian braces for a fierce Zark’s Burgers-Lyceum comeback but remains focused on finishing off the Jawbreakers and claiming the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup crown at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig today.

But while they needed a late burst to hack out a tough 107-103 victory in Game One of their best-of-three series last Tuesday, the Revellers hope to start out strong and sustain their charge to the finish.

“We have to prepare and we need to win Game Two because it’s hard to face Zark’s. We just got lucky at endgame in Game One,” said Che’Lu Bar coach Stevenson Tiu.

Gametime is at 4 p.m.

Meanwhile, the conference’s Most Valuable Player will be named before the match with Zark’s Burgers’ CJ Perez and Jaycee Marcelino, Samboy de Leon of Che’Lu Bar, Rian Ayonayon of Marinerong Pilipino and Jerrick Ahanmisi of Akari-Adamson battling for the coveted individual plum.

But the Revellers know that closing out a title series against the Jawbreakers would entail a lot of hard work and determination with the latter hell bent on forcing a winner-take-all Game Three.

“They are going to come back next game. That’s for sure,” said Tiu, who is again expected to lean on De Leon, Mike Calisaan, Ryan Costelo and RK Ilagan.

De Leon hit the go-ahead triple down the stretch and topscored with 18 points, while Calisaan turned in a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds, and guards Costelo and Ilagan more than filled up the void left by veteran playmaker Jeff Viernes with their combined 22-point tally.

But Zark’s Burgers-LPU is far from giving up with top gun CJ Perez hopeful to regaining his shooting form after struggling for an eight-point output in the series opener. Jaycee Marcelino (23 points), Mike Nzeusseu (19 points and 11 rebounds) and Jesper Ayaay (13 points) are also raring to raise the level of their respective games to stay alive.