Hawkeyes shoot for clincher vs Tile Masters

MANILA, Philippines - Cignal-San Beda vows to slow down Racal with its vaunted pressing defense as the Hawkeyes try to finish off the Tile Masters in Game Two of the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup Finals at the FilOil Flying V Center in San Juan today.

The Hawkeyes, who hit an impressive 52 percent clip in the first half, nearly squandered a huge 21-point lead in the third period but held on to post a 93-85 victory in the opener of their best-of-three series last week to move a win away from nailing the crown.

Gametime is at 4 p.m. after the league honors the conference’s top performers, including the MVP, in simple rites.

“We just have to play defense. We don’t have to give up that way. It’s really bad. I’m hoping everybody will realize that,” said Cignal coach Boyet Fernandez, referring to their near-foldup that saw the Hawkeyes blow a 21-point cushion, 69-48, with sloppy plays.

That enabled the Tile Masters, held to a 9-for-36 shooting in the first two quarters, to threaten at 81-86 with 2:26 left in the contest. But the Hawkeyes displayed grace under pressure to pound out the victory.

“They already had that ballgame and nearly lost it. Nineteen points up (in the first half) and you give up that lead?” said Fernandez, who hopes to draw another solid game from Jason Perkins, Pamboy Raymundo and Robert Bolick in a bid to sweep the Tile Masters and claim his seventh D-League crown.

But the Tile Masters are out to bounce back but will need a strong start and a stronger finish to stop the Hawkeyes and force a sudden death.

Racal nailed just 18 percent of its shots in the opening quarter in Game One, allowing the Hawkeyes to seize a 26-9 lead and dictate tempo of the match.

“We have to make those open shots. We have to deliver from start to end. From the first quarter, we can’t allow that type of offense especially against Cignal. It’s hard to catch up because they are really deadly,” said Racal coach Jerry Codiñera.