Cagayan Valley’s Celedonio Trollano is fouled on the way to the basket by Cebuana’s Simon Enciso in yesterday’s game. AUGUST DELA CRUZ
MANILA, Philippines—Hapee leaned on its big guns in the endgame to down a tough-fighting Cafe France, 69-56, Monday at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan and clinch the first championship berth in the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup.
Ola Adeogun, Ray Parks and Garvo Lanete fueled an emphatic 14-3 windup as the Fresh Fighters pulled away for good at 69-53 from a slim 55-50 lead going into the last seven minutes.
“The players were too excited and Cafe France took advantage of that,” said Hapee coach Ronnie Magsanoc. “The players just wanted to finish the series. But at halftime, it gave them a chance to think clearly.”
Hapee will have to wait until Thursday for its title opponent as Cagayan Valley outlasted the pesky Cebuana Lhuillier this time, 98-93, and forge do-or-die match.
Moala Tautuaa took charge in the closing minutes with an eight-point cluster that put the game away after the Gems had rallied to tie the game at 83.
“It was a wake-up call for sure,” said Tautuaa, who recovered from a dismal five-point outing in the Rising Suns’ Game 1 loss to the Gems, 89-85. “We fixed things up.”
The 6-foot-7 Fil-Tongan shot a perfect 10-of-10 from the field to finish with a game-high 26 points on top of 13 boards and five assists.
Game 3 is set at 3 p.m., also in San Juan.
Cagayan’s ace guard Abel Galliguez also rebounded from a scoreless outing by drilling 12 of his 16 points from three-point range, the last a huge triple that shattered the 83-83 deadlock.
“We relaxed early,” coach Alvin Pua said of his Rising Suns, who built double-digit buffers early.
Michael Mabulac fueled the Rising Suns’ strong start to finish with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Parks paced the Fresh Fighters with 19 points, while Adeogun shot seven of his 12 points in the last six minutes.
The scores:
First Game
CAGAYAN VALLEY 98—Tautuaa 26, Mabulac 16, Galliguez 16, Trollano 13, Celada 11, Melano 8, Dilay 6, Austria 2, Santos 0, Salamat 0, Tayongtong 0.
CEBUANA LHUILLIER 93—Zamar 15, Vosotros 15, Bautista 11, Torres 10, Mangahas 9, Ferrer 9, Enciso 6, Guinto 6, Villahermosa 5, Lopez 5, Acibar 2, Banal 0.
Quarters: 27-20, 45-45, 78-70, 98-93
Second Game
HAPEE 69—Parks 19, Adeogun 12, Lanete 12, Rosario 7, Newsome 7, Dela Cruz 4, Amer 2, Elorde 2, Long 2 Hayes 2.
CAFE FRANCE 56—De Leon 15, Ahanmisi 12, Alolino 7, Ebondo 7, Cortes 6, Galanza 4, Sedurifa 4, Batino 1, Jeruta 0, Celso 0, Abundo 0, Noble 0, Andrada 0.
Quarters: 20-17, 35-36, 53-45, 69-56