MANILA, Philippines—Cebuana Lhuillier tries to complete the tournament’s biggest turnaround while heavyweight Hapee hopes to live up to its lofty billing in separate semifinal duels in the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup Monday.
Climbing from the middle of the pack, the surprising Gems now aim to crash into the Finals by ousting eliminations topnotcher Cagayan Valley in Game 2 of the best-of-three series at 2 p.m. at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
“We’re taking it as a knockout game and not [Game 2 of the] semifinals,” said Gems coach Boycie Zamar. “For these players to step up, every game must be considered a knockout.”
The Fresh Fighters, although heavily favored, also plan to play with urgency when they gun for a sweep of Cafe France in their own semifinal pairing at 4 p.m.
“We can be beaten any time,” said Hapee coach Ronnie Magsanoc.
But Hapee didn’t look like it in Game 1, as Garvo Lanete fired 20 points for the Fresh Fighters, who cruised to a 16-point drubbing of the Bakers, 74-58.
The Gems, though, pulled off a surprise in their own series by clamping down on the Rising Suns’ big guns to carve out an 89-85 shocker that snapped the top seed’s unbeaten run.
Although Zamar expects reliables Allan Mangahas, Norbert Torres, Almond Vosotros and Simon Enciso to step up anew, he wants them to be wary of the Rising Suns’ expected comeback.
He said the Gems still looked as heavy underdogs against a Cagayan side boasting a stellar cast led by the 6-foot-7 Moala Tautuaa and Fil-Am guards Abel Galliguez, Alli Austria and Randy Dilay.
Tautuaa was held to his lowest output of five points while Galli-guez finished scoreless in Game 1.