Cebuana Lhuillier and AMA shoot for crucial victories today as the elimination round of the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup enters the homestretch at JCSGO Gym in Quezon City.
Running fifth with a 4-4 record, the Gems hope to keep their bid for a twice-to-beat edge in the quarterfinals alive when they clash with a desperate Wangs Basketball squad at 4 p.m.
The skidding AMA Titans will try to avoid elimination in their 12 noon duel with the Café France Bakers.
The odds are stacked against the Titans as they tangle with the confident Bakers, who are coming off a 67-62 overtime victory over the Gems last Thursday.
With the No. 3 seed in the quarterfinals already secured, Café France coach Egay Macaraya doesn’t expect his team to slow down against the Titans.
“All our remaining games are must-win situations,” said Macaraya. “Hopefully, we could run and catch up with the running game of AMA.”
With a 3-6 record, the Titans can no longer afford to lose if they want to stay in the hunt for a quarterfinal berth.
The Gems will pin their hopes on Paul Zamar and Kevin Ferrer, who led a strong performance by the Cebuana bench in the loss to Café France.
Wangs dropped a 91-97 decision to Bread Story-LPU last Thursday despite getting a combined 43 points from Paolo Pontejos and Macky Acosta.
MJM Builders and MP Hotel meet at 2 p.m. in a no-bearing battle of teams already out of quarterfinal contention.