HARDLY given a look before the start of the season-opening tourney, Apex Fuel-San Sebastian College reminded the other teams yesterday it is out to give them a run for their money.
Thanks to a big second half breakaway, the Golden Stags stunned one of the favorites in EcoOil-La Salle, scoring a runaway 73-51 victory for their third straight win and a share of second in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Ichie Altamirano scattered a game-high 15 points spiked by three three-pointers, on top of five rebounds, six assists, and seven steals for Apex Fuel-San Sebastian, while Romel Calahat also had 13 markers, seven boards, and two dimes.
The Stags’ triumph served as a fitting follow-up to their 93-53 dismantling of AMA Online three days ago that hiked their mark to 3-1 in a tie with Marinerong Pilipino.
The Green Archers, coming off a 76-65 win over Centro Escolar University last Friday, slipped to 2-2.
In the first game, Adalem Construction-St. Clare nipped hard-fighting Builders Warehouse-University of Santo Tomas 87-86 to gain a quarterfinals berth.
NAASCU Most Valuable Player Johnsherick Estrada banged in 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, collared eight rebounds and dished out five assists for the Saints.
Joshua Fontanilla added 17 markers and seven feeds, while John Rojas had 16 and two for Adalem Construction-St. Clare, which recovered from a sorry 71-75 defeat to the Skippers last Tuesday and improved to 3-2.
The Growling Tigers failed to rebound from a 69-89 setback at the hands of the Scorpions also last Tuesday and remained winless in four starts.
Apex Fuel-San Sebastian coach Egay Macaraya said his team, mostly made up of rookies, has to prove they have what it takes.
“We always love to be the underdogs kasi since I started coaching San Sebastian wala kaming import. We always play as the underdogs but tama iyon, nagpu-push din sa amin iyon (underdog label) especially na new team ito,” Macaraya said.
“I always tell the boys na you have to gain respect and to do that, you have to play basketball the right way kasi iyon ang magiging way for you to gain respect,” he added.
The Recto-based five took a 33-27 lead at the half that it padded to 53-38 going into the fourth quarter.
Showing no mercy, the Stags’ advantage ballooned to as much as 73-47 on an Altamirano triple with 3:26 to go.
Jan Macalalag led EcoOil-La Salle with 11 points, while Michael Phillips had 11 markers and eight caroms.
“Humanap kami ng go-to guy para ma-seal namin ng maayos iyong game,” Saints tactician Jiniño Manansala said, referring to Estrada.
Sherwin Concepcion scored 19 points and had 10 rebounds for Builders Warehouse-UST, while Bryan Santos, Kean Baclaan, and Miguel Pangilinan contributed 17, 14, and 11, respectively.
