Suns rise vs Jumbo five, boost semis bid

MANILA, Philippines - John Pinto scored 15 of his game-high 22 points in the second half and Cagayan Valley forced Jumbo Plastic to eight turnovers in the last period as Rising Suns hacked out a tough 82-78 victory over the Giants yesterday in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup at the Ynares Arena in Pasig City.

Pinto hit all his four shots in the fourth and the Rising Suns outscored the league’s leading defensive squad, 26-17, in the last 10 minutes to cap their fightback from two-digit deficits for a 7-2 card. 

“We played bad in the first half because the guys tend to lose their composure every time Jumbo plays physical. So during the halftime break I told them to just keep their composure and stick to our game plan. That’s exactly what they did in the second half and it paid off,” said Cagayan Valley coach Alvin Pua.

The Rising Suns thus bolstered their playoff bid with a possible chance of gaining an outright semifinal berth should they finish the eliminations among the top two.

“We’re not thinking about it. Anything can still happen. We’ll just try to win as many games as we can,” said Pua.

Andrian Celeda added 17 points, including five triples, while Michael Mabulac came through with a double-double job of 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Rising Suns.

Jumbo Plastic held a 61-56 lead at the end of the third but Cagayan Valley opened the fourth with a 17-9 run to surge ahead, 73-70, on Pinto’s baseline jumper with 3:40 remaining.

Elliot Tan tied the game with a triple but Pinto scored the next five points to put the Rising Suns ahead to stay.  

Mark Romero scored 22 points while Jan Colina had 16 markers for the Giants, who fell to fifth spot with a 5-2 card.

Later in the day, Café France demolished a badly depleted Zambales M-Builders, 98-64, for its second straight win and fifth overall in eight games as it stayed in the hunt for a playoff spot.

Cameroonians Rod Ebondo and Aristote Mutombo led a strong first half by Bakers, who raced to a 57-38 lead at the turn and never looked back.

The Builders took its fifth straight loss and dropped to 2-6 overall.