Cagayan seals title date with Hapee

Cagayan Valley’s Celedonio Trollano (6) draws a blocking foul on the drive from Paul Zamar of Cebuana in yesterday’s KO game. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

MANILA, Philippines—Cagayan Valley was back to its dominant form, blasting Cebuana Lhuillier, 103-85, Thursday to clinch the last championship berth in the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Filipino-Tongan slotman Moala Tautuaa sparked the top-ranked Risings Suns’ breakaway in the second period, before Don Trollano and Abel Galliguez helped seal the match by fuelling a huge offensive in the fourth quarter of the do-or-die Game 3 of the semifinals.

“Everyone was focused,” coach Alvin Pua said after his Risings Suns, who swept their elimination-round assignments, finally disposed of the overachieving Gems.

The Risings Suns will go up against the Hapee Fresh Fighters in the best-of-three championshp series starting at 3 p.m. on Monday, also in San Juan.

The second-seeded Fresh Fighters secured the first title slot last Monday after sweeping Cafe France in their own semifinal series.

Although dragged into a Game 3, the Rising Suns made sure there would be no upset as Tautuaa took over in the second quarter where he dropped 12 of his game-high 22 points for a 55-47 Cagayan lead at halftime.

The Gems—who snapped the Rising Suns’ 11-0 streak with an 89-85 shocker in Game 1—came within three, 82-79 midway in the fourth period.

But Trollano and Galliguez quickly responded with back-to-back triples that widened the gap anew, 88-79.

Adrian Celada added 16 points, while Trollano unloaded 11 of his 14 points in the final quarter.

Galliguez also had 14 points for the Rising Suns, whose 13-0 outburst inside the last five minutes turned an 88-81 lead into a 20-point spread, 101-81.

The No. 6 Gems, who had a shot at becoming the lowest-ranked team to crash into the Finals, bowed out after a surprising run that also saw them overcome the twice-to-beat edge of Jumbo Plastic in the quarterfinals.

The Rising Suns forged the knockout contest after levelling the series, 98-93, in Game 2 last Monday. The Gems snared Game 1, 89-85.

The scores:

CAGAYAN VALLEY 103—Tautuaa 22, Celada 16, Trollano 14, Galliguez 14, Austria 10, Melano 8, Salamat 7, Mabulac 4, Capacio 3, Dilay 2, Tayongtong 2, Flores 1, Olayon 0, Santos 0.

CEBUANA LHUILLIER 85—Ferrer 18, Torres 15, Enciso 14, A. Mangahas 12, J. Mangahas 10, Zamar 7, Lopez 3, Acibar 2, Villahermosa 2, Sarangay 2, Vosotros 0, Bautista 0.

Quarters: 25-25, 55-47, 73-68, 103-85