THE VICTORIOUS Cafe France Bakers celebrate with team officials and supporters after upending Hapee in yesterday’s Game 3 of their PBA D-League title series at Ynares Sports Arena. Inset, Rodrigue Ebondo. AUGUST DELA CRUZ
The last shot sealed the first championship.
Rodrigue Ebondo buried the game-winner with 1.8 seconds left as Cafe France nipped Hapee with a 56-55 decision to capture its first championship in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup Thursday at the packed Ynares Sports Arena.
“He wanted the ball and he wanted to win,” Cafe France coach Egay Macaraya said of Ebondo, the 6-foot-6 Congolese who drove to the basket after receiving Joseph Sedurifa’s inbound pass.
“Thank God, he made the shot, even though it was a very hard shot.”
The title-clincher capped Ebondo’s outstanding Game 3 performance. He topscored with 18 points built on a 6-of-9 shooting clip, grabbed 11 rebounds and pulled off seven of the team’s eight blocks.
“That was the play,” said Ebondo. “Coach told me that’s for me, that’s my basket and I should make that basket. I just focused and [told myself] to ‘put your mind into it and that you’re going to make the shot.’”
Before Ebondo’s winning basket, the Bakers looked headed for a monumental collapse as the Fresh Fighters rallied from a 12-point deficit, 27-39, in the second half.
The Fresh Fighters’ 11-3 burst—the last on a basket by Troy Rosario—tied the game at 52, with 2:29 to go.
A Jam Cortes layup gave the edge back to the Bakers, 54-52, but Nico Elorde responded with a huge triple that gave the Fresh Fighters their first lead of the game, 55-54, with 45.7 seconds left.
“I told them it’s not yet done, we still have a chance to win,” said Macaraya.
The Fresh Fighters later missed a chance to pad their lead following a 24-second violation, giving the Bakers 5.9 ticks to complete the winning play.
“The journey is worth it,” said Macaraya after the Bakers, one of the league’s inaugural members, rose from a 0-1 deficit in the best-of-three series.
Sedurifa added seven points and eight rebounds, while Maverick Ahanmisi chipped in seven points and four assists for the Bakers.
The Fresh Fighters, who again played minus several key cogs due to injuries, took Game 1, 83-72, but the Bakers leveled the championship series with a 76-70 victory in Game 2.
Elorde and Mar Villahermosa combined for 23 points to pace the Fresh Fighters, who missed the services of injured players Ola Adeogun, Art dela Cruz and Baser Amer.
The scores:
CAFE FRANCE 56—Ebondo 18, De Leon 7, Ahanmisi 7, Sedurifa 7, Poligrates 6, Cortez 4, Galanza 3, Abundo 2, Andrada 2, Jeruta 0, Miranda 0, Batino 0.
HAPEE 55—Elorde 12, Villahermosa 11, Newsome 8, Rosario 8, Mendoza 7, Romero 5, Gamboa 4, Thompson 0.
Quarters: 15-14, 33-27, 43-41, 56-55