Games Thursday JCSGO Gym
1 p.m. – Cebuana Lhuillier vs Kera Mix
3 p.m. – Cagayan Rising Suns vs MP Hotel
Cebuana Lhuillier and Kera Mix clash on Thursday in a matchup of early leaders in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup at the JCSGO Gym in Cubao, Quezon City.
The league’s co-leaders take the floor at 1 o’clock to dispute win number three and the unbeaten record.
Cagayan Valley also tries to stay unscathed when it battles struggling MP Hotel in the second game at 3 p.m.
The Gems rallied from a 20-point deficit in the third quarter and beat Café France, 86-85, in their opener then cruised to a 118-78 blowout win against MP Hotel last week.
Cebuana lost to Cagayan Valley in the semifinals of the Aspirants’ Cup but has been considered by many as the team to beat in the season-ending conference after acquiring 6-foot-7 Mo Tautuaa to team up with 6-foot-6 Norberto Torres.
Boycie Zamar, though, was quick to downplay his team’s potential.
“Today you can win by one point, tomorrow you can win by a big margin. But you don’t know what will happen next. There’s no guarantee in basketball,” Zamar said.
“I think the most important thing right now is, the chemistry is there, the selflessness is there, the sacrifice is there.”
Caloy Garcia, the Kera Mix coach, also believes that the Gems are the best team in the league “talent wise and height wise” although he didn’t appear worried about their matchup.
“I think the key for us is to contain Tautuaa,” said Garcia, who believes they can match-up with Cebuana’s size as 6-6 Roberto Bartolo and new recruit Mike Parala joins the team.
Kera Mix blasted MP Hotel, 87-60, then routed newcomer ATC Liver Marin-San Sebastian College, 89-71, to get their campaign going.