PATIENCE paid off big for Marinerong Pilipino-San Beda University yesterday.
Propped up by a fiery second-half juggernaut, the Red Lions manhandled Keanzel Basketball 127-67 in their quarterfinals duel and advanced to the semifinals of the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup at The Arena in San Juan.
Boosted by a win-once incentive, Marinerong Pilipino-San Beda recovered from a second-quarter meltdown to make good use of its advantage as the higher seed and set up a rematch against the No. 2 Centro Escolar Scorpions in a best-of-three semis beginning on Thursday.
The Lions fell to the UCAL champion Scorpions 63-72 in the eliminations to miss out on an outright semis berth and settle for a harder route by needing to go through the quarterfinals.
“Hindi kami maka-shoot noong umpisa but our shots finally fell in sa second half and we’re able to make stops,” Marinerong Pilipino-San Beda coach Yuri Escueta said.
“Welcome situation for us iyong tough loss namin against CEU. I want to see how we will react in the semis,” he added.
The Lions still roared to get the job done, despite heavy resistance from the listless Keanzel at least in the first half.
Nygel Gonzales fired 17 points on three triples to lead seven players in double digits for the Lions, who exploded for 84 points in the second half for a 62-point victory.
Joshua Tagala had 14, James Payosing and Joe Celzo chipped in 13 each while RC Calimag added 12 points for Marinerong Pilipino-San Beda. Emmanuel Tagle and Menard Songcuya also contributed 10 points apiece.
Ranged against the team that it blasted with a 109-59 win in the elims, San Beda found Keanzel a tough nut to crack this time around even after a strong 24-7 start.
Denzel Wong and Alfren Gayosa anchored the fightback as Keanzel turned the tables on the fancied NCAA king, 26-19, in the second quarter to come as close to six points, 33-39.
It was all San Beda, which restored the order to still take a double-digit lead at the break, from there on.
A 17-8 San Beda spurt to open the third quarter put away Keanzel for good, 60-41, that ballooned to as big as an 82-51 gap entering the payoff period.
Gayosa and Wong led the way with 26 and 18 points, respectively, for Keanzel which went winless in six matches en route to an early exit.
