Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Cafe France is set for its first finals trip in the PBA D-League after dispensing Cagayan, 92-78, in the Foundation Cup semifinals Thursday at Ynares Sports Arena.
It will be the Bakers’ first PBA D-League Finals appearance after joining the outfit in 2011.
Down 53-52 near the end of the third quarter, the Bakers staged a 19-4 run that extended to early in the fourth quarter with big man Rodrigue Ebondo hitting a three-pointer to give Cafe France a 71-57 lead.
Bakers head coach Egay Macaraya said his team wanted to win so bad which fueled their attacking game.
“It’s one of our goals going to the finals and hopefully we really get the goal,” Macaraya said. “Everybody really wanted to win, and it showed on the court.”
Macaraya had the numbers to back him up as his Bakers owned the glass finishing with 58 rebounds, 24 of which coming from the offensive end against the Rising Suns’ 33.
Cafe France also pushed around Cagayan down low with a 48-18 advantage in points in the paint.
A small 6-0 run pushed the Bakers’ lead to 14, 87-73, with Maverick Ahanmisi finishing off a driving layup at the 2:07 mark of the fourth.
Samboy De Leon had 23 points and eight rebounds for Cebuana while former Rising Sun Eliud Poligrates had 22 points.
Ebondo added a 17-point, 18-rebound double-double for the Bakers.
Abel Galliguez led Cagayan with 14 points while Adrian Celada and Eric Salamat had 12 points apiece. CFC