Waves rally in 2nd half to beat Rising Suns

By: Mark Giongco - 10 years ago

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Boracay Rum tweaked its defensive game plan in the second half to rally past Cagayan Valley, 79-69, and get its 2014 PBA D-League Foundation Cup campaign going Monday at the Arena in San Juan.

The Waves clamped down on defense in the last two quarters where they outscored the Rising Suns, 45-26.

“We really got off to a slow start. Test of character that we were able to come back. It had to be this way so I’ll take the win,” said Boracay Rum head coach Lawrence Chongson.

Fil-Italian guard Chris Banchero led all scorers with 22 points for the Waves, who came back from 19 points down.

It took just the third quarter for Boracay Rum to pull ahead, 61-5, a lead the Waves never lost.

And it all started with Boracay Rum’s defense.

“We tightened up on defense. [We gave up] 43 points [in the first half]. The players figured out their defensive roles,” said Chongson.

Most of the Suns’ 24 turnovers came in the second half that allowed the Waves to gain momentum and eventually take control of the game.

Cagayan, led by John Foronda’s 15 points, came equipped with its physical brand of basketball that seemed to have caught Boracay Rum off guard to take an early 24-11 lead.

It was just a matter of time before the Waves got accustomed to it.

“We should welcome that physicality. Probably out of the 10 teams, Cagayan is the most physical and we survived that storm,” Chongson said.

Ex-pro Rudy Lingganay had 12 points while swingman Paolo Taha and athletic forward Maclean Sabellina had 10 apiece to give Banchero ample amount of help.