Salado, fellow collegiate stars get needed D-League experience

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net

Though Racal came up short in the 2017 PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup Finals, Kent Salado believes the team’s runner-up finish for the squad will be beneficial for the players as the collegiate season begins.

“We’re proud of what we achieved this conference and I think we all learned from this,” Salado said in Filipino.

Salado emerged as Racal’s lead contributor while his Arellano teammates Lervin Flores and Joseph Gabayni also having a decent showing for the Tile Masters.

Rey Nambatac and Sidney Ownubere also had their moments through the course of the season, giving the two the experience they as they are set to lead Letran and Emilio Aguinaldo College, respectively.

Racal, who finished the eliminations as the No. 2 seed, advanced to its first finals appearance in franchise history before bowing to eventual champion Cignal-San Beda, 81-78, in Game 3 on Thursday. 

Salado rued the missed chance to win the D-League title, but said that the campaign allowed the players to blossom on their own as they set their sights on the coming NCAA season.

“It was unfortunate that we didn’t win, but we all know we did our part and we made history by leading this team to the Finals,” he said. “We’ll just bounce back and hopefully, good things happen for us players in the future.”