CafeFrance regains lead; Phoenix claims QF bonus

MANILA, Philippines - CafeFrance bounced back from a stinging setback to Tanduay with an emphatic 97-78 romp over AMA University yesterday even as the Phoenix-FEU Acceletators snapped the Rhum Masters’ five-game run with a come-from-behind 85-80 victory in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup at The Arena in San Juan.

While the Bakers wrested back the solo lead at 6-1, the Accelerators tied the idle Caida Tile Masters at second at 5-1 and gained a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.

The Rhum Masters, who racked up five straight wins after dropping their first two games, closed out the single round elims with a 5-3 card but still held on to the No. 4 spot.

UP QRS/Jam Liner, however, remains in the hunt for the last quarters incentive with a 4-3 mark although it needs to hurdle AMA U in its final elims assignment to force a tie.

Roger Pogoy came up big in the clutch, pouring 12 of his 21 points in the last 10 minutes, including three triples, on top of eight rebounds to key the Bakers’ strong finish and end the Rhum Masters’ surge.

Mike Tolomia nearly put up a double-double with 14 points and nine assists, Mac Belo shot 14 points, and Raymar Jose wound up with 12 markers and 10 boards for the Accelerators, who trailed in the first two quarters but snatched a 62-61 lead after the third period and held on in the fourth.

Phoenix-FEU led 80-77 going into the final minute then Pogoy drilled in his last trey to pad the lead to six with 57.1 left in the contest.

Jeoff Javillonar countered with a triple to close the game again but Belo hit a pair of charities to secure the victory.

Reden Celda fired 14 points while Val Acuna and Rudy Lingganay got 11 markers each for Tanduay.

Earlier, CafeFrance dominated AMA U from start to finish to get back on track after dropping a 74-79 setback to the Rhum Masters last Monday.

Meanwhile, Caida Tile tries to join CafeFrance in the lead again as it goes up against lowly Mindanao at 2 p.m. today while Wangs Basketball and BDO-NU collide at 4 p.m.