Rhum Masters target semis berth vs AMA

MANILA, Philippines -  Café France and Tanduay try to finish off their respective quarterfinal opponents and avoid the specter of going through a wringer in pursuit of Final Four berths in the PBA D-League Aspirants’s Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig today.

The Bakers and the Rhum Masters gained twice-to-beat edges after finishing Nos. 3 and 4, respectively, in the elims with the former going up against the Jose Rizal U Bombers at 3 p.m. and the latter facing off with the AMA Online Titans at 5 p.m.

For Tanduay coach Lawrence Chongson, he urged his wards not to take the Bombers lightly, knowing they only need a victory to ease out the Titans from the race.

“We still have to win. Even though we are twice-to-beat, we still need to compete and find a way to win,” said Chongson, who will be pinning on Mark Cruz, Jerwin Gaco, and Bong Quinto in the playoffs.

Chongson also wants his wards to treat the game as a do-or-die.

“Whatever it takes, I’ll take it as long as we survive and I hope that we will be the last team standing,” he added.

Faced with a tough task of beating Tanduay twice to advance, AMA Online also has to buck the loss of playmaker Juami Tiongson, who has joined NLEX in the PBA.

Titans coach Mark Herrera admitted the huge hole left by Tiongson’s departure, noting that he’s losing his lead player in the crucial phase of the tournament.

“With Juami, he averages 20-plus points a game and he’s the team leader. It’s tough for us but we’re happy that he’s getting a shot back in the PBA,” said Herrera.

That puts lots of pressure on Jeron Teng to further assert his will as spearhead of AMA’s  upset bid with support expected from Jay-R Taganas, PJ Barua, and newly signed Von Tambeling.

Meanwhile, Cafe France coach Egay Macaraya is hopeful that his team has re-focused following back-to-back losses to close out their elims campaign.

“We hope we have learned our lessons and do much better in our quarterfinal game against JRU,” said Macaraya, who hopes to draw the best from Paul Desiderio, Michael Calisaan and Rod Ebondo.

On the other hand, Heavy Bombers coach Vergel Meneses wants nothing but to see some fight from his crew led by guards Tey Teodoro and Jhaps Bautista.

“All the teams here are strong, especially Cafe France,” he said. But we’re ready, we’re here to gain experience, and we want to keep on fighting.”