Cignal-San Beda cruises to PBA D-League Finals

Pamboy Raymundo knocks down a triple for Cignal-San Beda. PBA IMAGES

Top seed Cignal-San Beda brushed off a slow start and hammered out a 88-65 rout of Tanduay to enter the 2017 PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup Finals Tuesday night at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.

The Hawkeyes erased a second quarter deficit and blew the game wide open after outscoring the Rhum Masters, 57-26, in the middle quarters.

Pamboy Raymundo collected a game-high 17 points, five rebounds and five assists while Jason Perkins notched a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead Cignal.

“We were down in the series but the players believed in themselves and they believed in our system,” said Cignal coach Boyet Fernandez, who is making a return to the finals after guiding NLEX to numerous championship runs.

“It’s not yet over. We need to win another series and it’s going to be tough one,” he said.

Cignal set up a best-of-three finals duel with Racal, which edged Cafe France, 78-74, in the first game.

Jerwin Gaco paced Tanduay with 15 points and eight rebounds while Mark Cruz added 13 points.

The championship round starts on Thursday also at the same venue.