What was supposed to be a marquee matchup between two undefeated teams turned out to be a one-sided affair, as CafeFrance humbled UP QRS/JAM Liner in a wire-to-wire 94-73 win on Thursday to stay undefeated in the 2016 PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup at Ynares Sports Arena.
Firing off a blazing 11-0 start, the Bakers easily took care of business and extended the lead to as high as 27, 74-47, in the third period.
Cafe France tied Caida Tile at first place with a 3-0 card.
“The boys played very well. Na-execute nila yung game plan. We had a very good start and biglang nawala yung laro yung UP. Credit to the boys talaga,” said coach Egay Macaraya.
Carl Bryan Cruz topscored for CafeFrance with 15 points, while Rod Ebondo made mincemeat of the Maroons frontline with a double-double of 14 markers and 12 rebounds.
Samboy de Leon also had 14 points on a 3-of-4 shooting from three, Paul Zamar got 11 markers, and Mon Abundo had 10.
Raymond Aguilar paced UP with 14 points and 14 boards in its first defeat of the conference, while Kevin Ferrer wound up with 13 markers.
The Scores:
CAFEFRANCE 94 – Cruz 15, De Leon 14, Ebondo 14, Zamar 11, Abundo 10, Opiso 6, Villahermosa 6, Jeruta 5, Manlangit 5, Celso 4, Arim 2, Casino 2, Anunciacion 0.
UP QRS/JAM LINER 73 – Aguilar 14, Ferrer 13, Baloria 12, Alolino 7, Batino 6, Moralde 5, Soyud 5, Dario 4, Neypes 3, Asilum 2, Desiderio 2, Sorela 0, Vito 0.
Quarters: 29-12, 51-35, 80-57, 94-73.