APEX Fuel-San Sebastian College emerged as the unlikely No. 1 team in the eliminations, but Golden Stags coach Egay Macaraya knows his charges will have their hands full against fancied lone club team Marinerong Pilipino.
“Mabigat pa rin silang kalaban kaya dapat prepared pa rin kami lalo na sa depensa,” Macaraya said.
Skippers counterpart Yong Garcia disagreed and said their opponents have what it takes.
“Mas mahirap silang kalaban kasi solid na team talaga sila at kita mo naman doon sa five-game win streak nila,” Garcia said.
Apex Fuel-San Sebastian battles Marinerong Pilipino today as the semifinals of the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup kick off at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The curtain-raiser is set at 9 a.m. before second seed EcoOil-La Salle tackles third-ranked Adalem Construction also in Game 1 of their best-of-3 battle at 11 o’clock.
The Stags wound up with a 5-2 card after the elims and gained an outright semis berth in the season-opening tourney although they absorbed a 66-80 loss to the Saints in their last outing last Aug. 2.
Romel Calahat, Rhinwil Yambing, and Ichie Altamirano will be counted upon by Apex Fuel-San Sebastian in its bid to atone for a 64-86 setback at the hands of the Skippers last July 9 — one of the Stags’ only two defeats in the conference so far.
No. 4 Marinerong Pilipino, coming off a 75-66 win over Centro Escolar University in their quarterfinals tiff last Friday, will bank on Juan Gomez de Liaño, Jollo Go, and Kemark Cariño.