JK Casino waxed hot late and carried CaféFrance to an 86-70 victory, ousting AMA Online Education from the Final Four race Thursday in the 2016 PBA D-League Foundation Cup at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
Casino’s back-to-back threes ignited a 17-2 tear to turn a 64-59 deficit with six minutes left into a comfortable 76-66 lead for the Bakers in the endgame.
Casino fired 14 of his 20 points in the fourth as he went 6 of 11 in threes to go with five rebounds and five assists.
“Alam naman natin na shooter talaga si JK. Sa team naman namin, everybody can shoot and today was JK’s day. Thankful lang kami na na-save nya kami lahat,” said coach Egay Macaraya.
Congolese big man Rod Ebondo led CafeFrance with a double-double of 25 markers, 14 boards, and two blocks, while Carl Bryan Cruz tallied 21 points and eight rebounds.
The Final Four cast is now complete, with CafeFrance, Racal, Phoenix and Tanduay gunning for the top two spots which comes with a twice-to-beat advantage in the semifinals.
Rashawn McCarthy topped AMA (3-6) with 28 points, five rebounds, and five assists, while James Martinez got 15 markers, four boards, and three assists.
Scores:
CAFÉ FRANCE 86 – Ebondo 25, Cruz 21, Casino 20, Zamar 7, Manlangit 5, Abundo 4, Jeruta 2, Parala 2, Anunciacion 0, Arim 0, Custodio 0, Opiso 0.
AMA 70 – McCarthy 28, Martinez 15, Ortega 8, Jordan 6, Arambulo 4, Jo. Montemayor 4, Asuncion 3, Taganas 2, Belleza 0, Bragais 0, Macaranas 0, Je. Montemayor 0.
Quarters: 25-20; 45-44; 54-55; 86-70.
