Saints, Skippers go for kill vs Tigers, Scorpions

MANILA, Philippines — Armed with twice-to-beat incentives, higher-ranked squads Adalem Construction-St. Clare and Marinerong Pilipino shoot for quick Final Four passage against separate counterparts in the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup quarterfinals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The third-seeded Saints take on No. 6 Builders Warehouse-UST at 11 a.m. after the 9 a.m. collision between No. 4 Skippers and No. 5 Centro Escolar U.

A win would push both squads straight into the semifinals, where No. 1 Apex Fuel-San Sebastian and second-running EcoOil-La Salle are waiting after similar 5-2 cards in the elimination round.

It isn’t expected to be easy, though, for both St. Clare and Marinero against capable squads that made late runs into the playoffs.

Santo Tomas strung up three straight victories after a 0-4 start including a huge upset of NCAA champion Letran in a virtual knockout match for the last and sixth playoff spot.

That alone should be enough reason for St. Clare to not lower its guard down.

“The way UST is playing right now, they’re on a roll so kailangang mag-prepare kami ng mabuti,” said coach Jinino Manansala.

Marinero mentor Yong Garcia raises the same caution as his wards go up against the Scorpions, who dealt them an 84-77 defeat in their elims meeting.

“Lesson pa rin sa amin ‘yun. Hindi man namin nakuha yung top two, ang mahalaga may advantage pa rin kami at di namin pwedeng sayangin ‘yun,” he said.