Poligrates shines anew as Cagayan Valley keeps Jumbo Plastic in check

JECKSTER Apinan of JRU-Air21 disputes the rebound with Cagayan’s Jason Milano and Eliud Poligrates in yesterday’s game. FILE PHOTO/EDWIN BELLOSILLO

MANILA, Philippines—Cagayan Valley kept Jumbo Plastic in check with an 83-74 win Monday in the 2013 PBA D-League Foundation Cup at the Arena in San Juan.

The Rising Suns pulled away in the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run then pushed the lead further to 77-63 on efforts by Eliud Poligrates with under two minutes left to play.

Poligrates churned out 10 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter as he teamed up with Andrian Celada, and Chris Exciminiano who added 14 and 13, in that order.

Raymund Valenzona, who took over the coaching reins as Alvin Pua joined his wife’s campaign in Cagayan Valley, meanwhile, admitted that they struggled against Jumbo Plastic’s zone defense.

The Rising Suns, who still improved to 2-1, missed 25 shots from downtown and made only 10.

“Nahirapan kami sa mga play kasi nag-sona sila. Tapos di pa kami makashoot sa labas,” said Valenzona. “Siguro sa depensa na lang kami nakabawi. Sa transition defense kami nakalayo.”

But as bad Cagayan Valley was from beyond the arch, it was the opposite on the open court — turning Jumbo Plastic’s 19 turnovers to 25 points and scoring 18 fastbreak buckets.

Jul-Ashri Ignacio finished with 16 points for Jumbo Plastic, which couldn’t find its groove for a 1-4 card in its PBA D-League debut, while Aljon Mariano and Elliot Tan added 13 each.

Though the Giants shot better from the three-point area and had an edge in rebounds, poor passing (12-27) keyed in their doom.