Tanduay smothers Cignal; Racal stuns Cafe France

MANILA, Philippines - Tanduay rode on a fiery run linking both halves as it halted Cignal-San Beda’s eight-game streak, 66-55, last night while Racal rallied to edge Café France at the buzzer, 88-86, at the Marikina Sports Complex last night as they moved closer to sealing a showdown for the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup crown.

Ex-pros Mark Cruz and Jerwin Gaco took charge in the pivotal third, combining for 22 points as the Rhum Masters sustained their second quarter charge to post leads of as many as 21 points en route to seizing the opener of their best-of-three semifinal series.

Earlier, Sidney Onwubere buried a trey at the buzzer as Racal hacked out a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Café France to likewise seize a 1-0 lead in their side of the semis playoff.

Rod Ebondo earlier nailed a triple with 1.9 seconds remaining to give the Bakers an 86-85 advantage. But Onwubere foiled the Bakers, heaving the shot after receiving the inbound pass from Allan Mangahas.

“Every time we go for a timeout, my coaches encourage me that if I have an open look, I should take the shot,” said Onwubere, who hit four triples in the fourth, the last capping the Tile Masters’ closing 13-4 fightback that put the team closer to a dream finals stint.

Tanduay dropped 28 points while holding Cignal to a 15-point output in the third to zoom to a 56-35 lead then fended off the Hawkeyes’ repeated comebacks in the fourth to pound out the 11-point romp.

Gaco paced Tanduay with 16 points, seven rebounds and two assists, Cruz logged 15 markers, four rebounds, two assists and one steal while Adrian Santos had 11 points.

Pamboy Raymundo and Jayvee Mocon combined for 24 points for Cignal, which looked poised to advancing to the finals after sweeping its last eight games to clinch the top seeding in the Final Four.

But the Rhum Masters came armed to the teeth.

“This is not about the records anymore. It’s all about us needing to win for ourselves. We need to enter the finals. We’ll do whatever it takes. We don’t think about who has the winning streak or not,” said Tanduay head coach Lawrence Chongson.