Fired-up Excelroof reaches final

MANILA, Philippines - Excelroof completed an upset of second seed Cobra Energy Drink yesterday at the San Juan gym, making it two in a row with an 81-75 decision to gain the right to play top seed Pharex B-Complex in the 2010 PBL PG Flex-Erase Placenta Cup finals.

Jimbo Aquino and Carl Abueva came through with another sterling performances and Excelroof overcame Cobra’s twice-to-beat advantage in their semis match-up, thus, keeping its hope for a Cinderella finish.

Coach Ato Agustin and his troops arranged a best-of-three finals showdown with Pharex B-Complex beginning tomorrow at The Arena in San Juan.

“We have the championship experience in the NCAA, but collegiate basketball is different from the PBL. Nonetheless, we’re hoping we can go all the way to top the tourney,” said Agustin.

“We’re very happy to make the finals. This is a well-deserved win for the boys. They really persevered and worked hard to reach this stage,” said team manager Oliver Gianan, who also thanked team owner Edwin Chua for his support.

“We hope our run will not end here,” Gianan added.

Aquino put in a game-high 19 points while Abueva tossed in 17 with 13 coming in the payoff period.

Abueva, who also had 13 rebounds, produced the game’s biggest play, scoring in a tough situation versus defender Marvin Hayes to give the 25ers a 78-75 lead with 41.7 seconds to go.

Abueva, drawing a foul from Hayes, failed to complete a three-point play opportunity but the 25ers preserved the win just the same with the Ironmen going scoreless the rest of the way.

Jai Reyes missed a three-point play, then after regaining possession, was blocked by Abueva in another three-point try.

Fouled by Mark Fampulme in the next play, Abueva nailed two charities for the final count.

“Calvin really made the difference. He showed tremendous intensity and got away with key plays,” said Agustin of Abueva, also a member of his triumphant San Sebastian team in the NCAA.

Aquino, also a SSC Stag in the NCAA, top scored with 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting. He also had six rebounds in 33 minutes while point guard Pamboy Raymundo contributed 11 points, eight assists and five rebounds.

Paul Lee had 19 points, three rebounds, four assists and two steals for the Ironmen. And he scored the basket tying the count at 66-all with 3:55 left.

Reyes had 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the three-point area but former UAAP scoring champion Patrick Cabahug was held to just 13 points.

A big letdown was forward Pari Llagas who was limited to seven points after averaging close to 20 points in the team’s last three games.