MANILA, Philippines - Don Trollano and Andrian Celada hit clutch three-point shots in the closing minutes as Cagayan Valley weathered repeated comebacks by Banco de Oro and defeated Bulldogs, 101-92, on Monday in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup at the JCSGO gym.
Trollano knocked down his third three of the day with 3:03 remaining before Celada hit another one from downtown 30 seconds later to effectively put the Bulldogs away. The Rising Suns closed out the fourth quarter with a 10-2 run.
“This is a big win for us. We are looking to finish the eliminations in third or fourth place. This win certainly kept us on target,†said Cagayan Valley assistant coach Nonoy Bonleon.
In the other game, NLEX rolled to its sixth consecutive win with an 80-68 rout of Cebuana Lhuillier.
Garvo Lanete scored 21 points, Kevin Alas had 18 and Jake Pascual pulled down 13 rebounds for the Road Warriors, who improved to 9-1 to enhance their chances of clinching an outright semifinal berth. The defending champions wind up the eliminations against Cagayan Valley and lightweights Derulo Accelero and Zambales M-Builders.
“We want to make the semis outright so we’re not taking any of our remaining games for granted. I’m just happy my players continue to play with a lot of energy despite a short rest,†said NLEX coach Boyet Fernandez.
The Road Warriors took the lead for good with an 11-0 run that broke a 28-all count late in the second quarter. Lanete fueled that spurt with a three-point shot with 1:39 left in the period.
Mark Bringas scored 21 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. Celada had 20, Trollano added 16, Jason Melano went 3 for 3 from three-point range and finished with 15 for the Rising Suns, who secured their place in the quarter finals.
Cagayan Valley improved to 8-3 (win-loss) record and tied idle Hog’s Breath Café at fourth place.
Only six teams in the 14-team field will advance to the playoffs after the single round eliminations. The top two teams will clinch outright semifinal berths while the next four teams will play in the quarter finals with the third and fourth seed teams earning twice-to-beat advantage.