Scratchers demolish Engineers, gain finals; CEU rips Che’Lu Bar

MANILA, Philippines — Gab Banal sizzled with a triple-double as Go for Gold sustained its mastery over Marinerong Pilipino-Technological Institute of the Philippines, 103-75, to advance to the finals against Che’ Lu Bar and Grille in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig yesterday.

Banal, a leading MVP candidate, produced 24 points on a 7-of-10 clip from the field and 9-of-10 from the line, hauled down 19 rebounds and dished off 10 assists as he atoned for his measly four-point output in the Scratchers’ 96-87 Game One victory.

Go for Gold thus swept its best-of-three semis showdown with Marinerong Pilipino-TIP and all of their four meetings this conference, counting two in the eliminations, to gain a crack at the crown.

“He (Banal) has been our best player all-conference long. He had one bad game which is the first game (in the semis). He played really well today, very smart, very unselfish and he helped us win,” said Scratchers coach Charles Tiu.

Banal, however, was quick to deflect the credit to his teammates.

“I wasn’t aware that I was on my way to making a triple double. I’m just doing my best. Credit goes to my teammates, they were making my passes. So it’s not just my effort but their own effort also,” said Banal, the seventh player to log a triple-double in the league.

But No. 4 Centro Escolar U, behind Rich Guinitaran and Orlan Wamar, waylaid top seed Che’Lu Bar and Grill, 83-78, to force a sudden death in their side of the best-of-three series.

Guinitaran hit a triple at the 42.3 mark to shatter a 76-all count then Wamar struck with a jumper for a five-point cushion with 16.7 seconds remaining.