By JEROME LAGUNZAD
Games Monday
(Pasig City Sports Center)
2 p.m. — CEU vs Batangas-EAC
4 p.m. — Go for Gold-CSB vs AMA
Marinerong Pilipino eliminated Perpetual Help from playoff contention and boosted its bid for a Top 2 finish with a 78-66 victory yesterday in the 2018 PBA D-League Aspirants Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
University of the East star Alvin Pasaol and former pro Gab Banal tallied 15 points apiece while former Ateneo standout Vince Tolentino and Billy Robles had 10 points each as the surging Skippers dominated the Altas in the second half.
It was the seventh straight victory and eighth overall in 10 starts for Marinerong Pilipino, which forged a three-way tie with idle Centro Escolar University and Akari-Adamson on top of the 12-team field with a game to spare.
More importantly, the Skippers kept themselves in the hunt for an outright berth in the semifinals, something that veteran coach Koy Banal would welcome with open arms.
“Sa ngayon hindi na namin tinitignan ‘yung Top 2 kasi both teams beat us,” he said, aware that the Skippers will have the most inferior quotient in case of a triple-tie with the Scorpions and the Falcons at the end of the eliminations.
“Imposible na naming makuha ‘yun. Sa ngayon, hindi na namin tinitignan ‘yung Top 2 (finish). If that will happen, thank you. If not, thank you pa rin kasi may twice-to-beat advantage kami sa quarterfinals.”
However, Banal has plenty of reasons to be optimistic moving forward since the Skippers continued to play true to their potential, especially in the third quarter when they started to separate themselves from the Altas after a tight start.
Marinerong Pilipino led by as many as 14 points and stayed composed under duress when Perpetual Help fought its way back and threatened the closest within five at 56-61 midway in the final period.
Pasaol completed a clutch three-point play while Rian Ayonayon made back-to-back buckets, including a tough alley-oop play off a Joseph Terso feed, that sparked a 13-4 run, enabling the Skippers to regain a 74-60 cushion with 2:35 left.
“At halftime, we reminded them that Perpetual won’t just gonna lay down here and give us the ball game. We need to work harder and earn it. Ang iniisip namin is playing playoff basketball…consistent basketball from start to finish,” said Banal.
Nigerian center Prince Eze tallied 16 points, as manyr abounds and six blocks while Rey Peralta added 16 points and veteran AJ Coronel swatted eight shots but the Altas still kissed their playoff hopes goodbye after suffering their seventh loss in 10 tries.
