Cagayan nails 9th win in row, downs Tanduay

Games Monday (JCSGO Gym, Cubao Quezon City)

12 noon – Café France vs AMA University

2 p.m. – MJM Builders vs MP Hotel

4 p.m. – Wangs Basketball vs Cebuana Lhuillier

MANILA, Philippines - Cagayan Valley withstood Tanduay Rhum’s fourth quarter rally and fashioned out an 81-74 victory to tie unbeaten Hapee in the lead in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup at the JCSGO gym in Cubao, QC yesterday.

The Rising Suns took control early, 30-12, and built a 22-point lead, 75-53, at the end of the third before surviving the Rhum Masters’ fightback to post their ninth straight victory and match the Fresh Fighters’ record heading to their keenly-awaited showdown on Jan. 22.

Hapee and Cagayan Valley have long clinched the two outright semifinal berths.

Tanduay fell to 4-6 and in danger of elimination.

Earlier. Maverick Ahanmisi stepped up in overtime as Café France foiled Cebuana Lhuillier, 67-62, to remain in third with a 7-2 card. 

Ahanmisi drilled in a trey and made a key assist in the final 2:59 of the extra period as the Bakers weathered repeated rallies by the Gems to gain a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.

“The boys played well. They never gave up,” said Café France coach Egay Macaraya.

Earlier, Bread Story-LPU also worked overtime before dispatching Wangs Basketball, 97-94, to keep its quarterfinal hopes alive with a 3-5 mark.

Ahanmisi tallied 16 points to lead three starters in double figures. Rodrigues Ebondo scored 13 points and Samboy De Leon added 11 markers for the Bakers.

Ahanmisi’s trey with 60 seconds left in regulation gave Café France a 56-54 lead but Paul Zamar buried two free throws with 18.6 seconds to play to force overtime.

Both teams shot poorly with Café France making just 32 percent from the field, a little better than Cebuana’s 30 clip.

The Bakers dominated the Gems with good ball movement that led to many open shots and Jam Cortez, Yutien Andrada and Ebondo did splendid defensive job by taking big man Norberto Torres away from the basket. The 6-9 Torres managed just six points and five rebounds in 33 minutes.