PBA D-League: BDO-NU nabs QF spot, outguns Wangs

BDO-NU Bulldogs vs Wangs Couriers. PBA IMAGES

BDO-NU clinched a quarterfinal slot after outgunning Wangs Basketball, 107-96, in the 2016 PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup Tuesday at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Jay Alejandro scored a game-high 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field for the Bulldogs, who snapped a three-game slide and improved to 2-5.

“We’re very happy, but more than the win, I think I’m happy with the way we played the game. We were very methodical and this is the first time this conference that we played the way we really wanted to play,” said BDO-NU head coach Eric Altamirano.

Altamirano had a lot of reasons to smile about.

The Bulldogs showed they can pile up the points and they did it with such efficiency — shooting 64% from the field including 7-of-12 from the three-point area.

Down one, BDO closed the game on a 14-4 run in the last three minutes and 32 seconds.

Mohammad Salim hit a 3-pointer to give the lead back to the Bulldogs for good before a basket by Alfred Aroga with only 28.2 seconds left and an ill-advised three by Couriers guard Clark Bautista sealed the win.

“We played according to our game plan and what we’re trying to do in practice so I’m really happy that it happened at the right time when we really needed a win.”

James Mangahas had 22 points for the Couriers, whose playoff fate is out of their control after wrapping up their campaign in the elimination round with a six straight losses and a 1-7 record.