Cafe France Bakers. PBA IMAGES
Cafe France and Tanduay look to complete the Final Four cast even after closing out the eliminations in contrasting fashion in the 2017 PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup.
The Bakers, the third seed vying to rebound from back-to-back losses, take on Jose Rizal University in the 3 p.m. quarterfinal match at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
“We hope we learned our lessons and do much better in [the quarterfinals],” coach Egay Macaraya said of his Bakers, who tote a twice-to-beat edge.
The Rhum Masters—who clinched the last quarterfinal bonus after closing out the eliminations with three straight wins—clash with AMA Online Education in the other match at 5 p.m.
“Even though we have the twice-to-beat, we still need to compete and find a way to win,” said Tanduay coach Lawrence Chongson, who’s banking on Mark Cruz and Jerwin Gaco
The quarterfinal winners will join Cignal-San Beda and Racal, which earned outright semifinal berths after securing the top two spots at the end of the eliminations.
Tanduay faces an AMA side that just lost its top point guard, Juami Tiongson, to NLEX in the PBA. “It hurts that we lost him, but we’re happy that he’s getting a shot back in the PBA,” said AMA coach Mark Herrera. —RANDOLPH LEONGSON