By Dave Coros
SAMBOY DE LEON nailed a clutch three and Mon Abundo made a crucial steal as CaféFrance survived a late charge by Tanduay for a 72-63 victory in Game Two of their semifinal duel on Monday to advance to the Finals of the Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League Aspirants Cup at the Filoil Flying V Arena.
The Bakers squandered a 16-point advantage and were on the verge of a meltdown in the closing minutes but summoned their experience to hold off the determined Rhum Masters.
“I thought the guys showed some character down the stretch. I thought we deserved to win,” CaféFrance Coach Egay Macaraya said.
Aaron Jeruta scored on a lay-up in transition as CaféFrance took the lead back, 64-63, with 1:06 left before de Leon nailed a corner three to make it a four-point game 35 seconds later.
After a time-out by Tanduay, Abundo stole off an inbound pass by Lucas Tugarda and completed the play with the lay-up as the Bakers all but locked the victory, 69-62, with 27 seconds left.
The Bakers will face Phoenix Petroleum-Far Eastern University (FEU) in a best-of-five titular series starting on Thursday at the Ynares Arena. The Accelerators advanced by dispatching Caida Tiles, 94-90, in Game Two to also sweep their best-of-three semifinal series.
Ed Daquioag scored 13 of his game-high 22 points in the third quarter as the Accelerators outscored the Tile Masters, 26-15, to take the lead for good. Phoenix led 72-69 entering the fourth.
Jonathan Grey tallied 22 points, while Dexter Maiquez and Joseph Terso added 11 apiece for the Tile Masters, who committed 23 turnovers and missed a lot of easy shots when they needed to score.
De Leon struggled on 5 of 15 shooting but still finished with a team-high 13 points. Rodrigue Ebondo recorded a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds, Abundo added 12 and Bryan Cruz tallied 10 for the Bakers, who moved within three games of claiming their second league championship.