MANILA, Philippines - Hapee turned to its defense when its offense began to sputter, holding off Café France, 69-56, to roll into the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup Finals via sweep at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.
But top seed Cagayan Valley bounced back strong from a stinging series’ opening setback as it weathered Cebuana Lhuillier’s late charge to escape with a 98-93 victory and force a sudden death for the other championship berth.
The Fresh Fighters put away the Bakers with a pressure defense that limited the third seeded squad to nine points in the pivotal third period en route to the Finals of the 2015 PBA D-League Aspirants Cup.
Café France snatched a 36-35 lead at the turn but struggled in the face of Hapee’s swarming defense at resumption, falling behind by eight after the third period and failing to stop the Fresh Fighters’ strong finishing kick.
Hapee, which routed Café France, 74-58, in Game One, will face either Cagayan Valley or Cebuana Lhuillier in another best-of-three series for the crown next week.
Earlier, Fil-Tongan Moala Tautuaa took over in the clutch as the Rising Suns rebounded from their 85-89 Game One loss to foil Cebuana Lhuillier and stay in the hunt for the crown.
The rubber match for the second finals berth is set at 3 p.m. Thursday, also at the San Juan arena.
The 6-7 Tautuaa tied his career-high 26 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in a dominating performance he capped with big plays at crunch time when the Gems threatened to turn the game around.
“I thought the players are too excited at the start. They wanted to put the game right away. And Café France took advantage of that. But I thought the halftime break allowed my players to think clearly and they realize we can’t do things just like that. I thought my veterans – Garvo Lanete, Rayray Parks and Kirk Long – steadied the team,” said Hapee coach Ronnie Magsanoc.