NEWCOMER Bread Story-Lyceum dominated a visibly out of sync CaféFrance side and came away with a 79-72 victory, while Cebuana Lhuillier outsteadied Jumbo Plastic in the fourth quarter for a 63-53 decision on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League Aspirants Cup at the Ynares Arena in Pasig City.
The twin victories allowed the Pirates and the Gems to force a rubber match on Monday for the two semifinal berths.
The Pirates outscored the Bakers, 28-13, in the second quarter to set the tone of the stunning turnaround then held off a mighty charge by the Bakers in the third with strong finishing kick.
The Gems also needed a strong finish to put away the Giants, who tied the game at 46-46 on a banked shot by MacLean Sabellina early in the fourth.
“We remembered the date [November 3, 2014]. They [Giants] beat us by big margin. Before game time I challenged the guys to step up and play team basketball. I thought they responded well,” Cebuana Coach Boycie Zamar said.
Paul Zamar scored 18 points, including two clutch three-point shots in the fourth quarter, to keep the rallying Giants at bay.
CaféFrance rallied from a 24-point deficit and pulled within 68-70 on Jelo Alolino’s basket to make the game exciting in the closing minutes.
But the Pirates hung on. Louie Vigil scored on a reverse shot and Giovanni Jalalon came up with a steal and a basket that practically sealed the win for the Pirates.
Jackson Corpuz and Jalalon shared scoring honors with 21 points apiece for the Pirates, who avenged their 74-88 defeat to the Bakers in the elimination and gave themselves a fair chance of crashing into the semifinals of the Aspirants Cup.
“No one expected us to be here. I guess that was a motivation to the guys. I also thought the team’s desire to avenge our loss in the elims fired us up,” Bread Story-Lyceum Coach Bonnie Tan said.
Cameroonian Aziz Mbomiko, Jalalon and Corpuz picked up their offensive rhythm in the second quarter and the Pirates dictated the pace—a fluid up-tempo game. Bread Story-Lyceum shot 63 percent from the field (10 of 16) in the second quarter and led 46-31 at halftime.