BREAD Story-Lyceum takes a shot at the last quarterfinal berth when it faces Racal Motors at the close of the Philippine Basketball Association D-League Aspirants Cup eliminations on Monday.
Needless to say, the Tanduay Light Rhum Masters, their quarterfinal aspirations hanging in the balance, will be rooting for the Alibaba.
Sitting at seventh place behind the Rhum Masters (5-6), the Pirates (4-6) could advance in the next round with a victory in the scheduled 2 p.m. encounter at the Marikina Sport Complex.
Bread Story-Lyceum holds the advantage in case of a tie between the two teams because the Pirates defeated the Rhum Masters, 69-64, in their only meeting last November 13.
The quarterfinals start on Thursday with third-seed CaféFrance playing against either Tanduay Light or Bread Story-Lyceum and No. 4 Jumbo Plastic taking on Cebuana Lhuillier.
The Pirates are seeking a bounce-back victory following its 78-90 loss to the Cebuana Lhuillier Gems last week that snapped their two-game run.
“We’re taking it just one game at a time. It would be nice if we could make it to the next round but we can’t underestimate [Racal]. Hopefully we can match up with their intensity,” Bread Story-Lyceum Coach Bonnie Tan said.
The Alibaba (3-7) are out of the playoff race but their desire to improve on their standing makes them dangerous.
In the other game, league leader Cagayan Valley goes for a sweep of the eliminations when it battles Wang’s Basketball at 4 p.m.
The Rising Suns are coming off an emotional 80-77 victory against the Hapee Fresh Fight last Thursday. Abel Galliguez hit the tiebreaking three-point shot with a second remaining to lift Cagayan Valley to its 10th straight win while dealing Hapee its first loss in 11 games.