Rising Suns start strong, rip Shakers

Games tomorrow

(Trinity University of Asia Gym)

2 p.m. – Cebuana Lhuillier vs Informatics

4 p.m. – Blackwater vs Cagayan

MANILA, Philippines - Cagayan Valley used one big scoring spurt in the second quarter to wrest control then went on to dump Fruitas, 107-75, yesterday and stay in the hunt for the other outright semifinal berth in the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup at the Jose Rizal University gym in Mandaluyong.

Eliud Poligrates scored 27 points while Christopher Eximiniano added 23 markers and James Forrester and Adrian Celeda each had 12 points for the Rising Suns, who broke away from a tight first quarter game, 17-13, with a big run in the second period to post a 45-30 bulge at the half.

It was smooth-sailing for the Rising Suns from there with Raymund Almazan snaring 10 rebounds to lead Cagayan’s domination of the boards, 55-47.

The win was Cagayan’s sixth against three defeats as it closed in on second running Blackwater, which has a 6-2 slate.

Defending champion NLEX took the first outright seat in the semis with a 9-1 mark with Blackwater and Cagayan disputing the other coveted slot tomorrow.

“We stayed focused and I thought we had a good run in the first half. Our defense got things going for us,” said Cagayan Valley coach Alvin Pua. 

Jose Rizal University also nailed an all-important win against Erase Xfoliant, 74-61, in the other game to clinch a seat in the quarterfinals.

“This is a big win for us. Regardless of what happens in our last game we’ll be happy. The bottom line is we made the playoffs,” said JRU coach Vergel Menses.

Dexter Maiquez scored 14 and Philip Paniamogan had 13 for the Heavy Bombers, who improved to 5-4 heading to their final elims game against the Cebuana Lhuillier Gems on Jan. 31.

Kevin Racal scored 20 points and Jett Vidal added 13 for the Erasers, who took their sixth consecutive loss and fell to 2-7 overall.

The Shakers lost their second straight and fell to 4-5 (win-loss) record. They close out their elims assignment against Boracay Rum in a do-or die game for the quarterfinal berth next Tuesday.

Carlo Lastimosa tallied 14 points for Fruitas, which played without injured center Ola Adeogun for the second straight game. The Shakers also played minus forward Martin Antonio, who served his one game suspension.  

Mike Silungan scored 11 points and Rome dela Rosa added 10 for the Shakers, who struggled with 32 of 91 shooting from the field.