The Cagayan Valley Rising Suns continued on their astonishing turnaround as they barged into the finals of the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup after outlasting the Blackwater Sports Elite, 80-68, in the deciding Game Three of the best-of-three semifinals series yesterday at the Arena in San Juan City.
The Suns finished the last conference without a single win in nine games but shed that loser’s image by recruiting quality players, which included Cebuano guard Eliud Poligrates.
The former Southwestern University (SWU) standout, after scoring 23 in Game Two, kept his hot scoring streak with 17 points in the deciding game.
Cagayan Valley rose to the occasion in the second half, where it blanketed the Elite and limited them to just 28 points in that stretch, and just 11 in the final stanza.
After trailing by five at the half, Cagayan banked on the scoring of Poligrates, Joshua Webb, Andrian Celada and Arvie Bringas to put it on top, 57-54.
The Rising Suns extended their lead to a high of 15, 86-71, in the fourth and punctuated the win with a slam dunk from Raymund Almazan that put them on top, 80-66, with just 1:11 left in the game. Webb and Bringas each had 11 while Celada added 10 markers.
The Suns are in for the test of their lives in the finals as they take on the two-time defending champions, NLEX Road Warriors, who edged the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers, 87-85, in Game Three of their own semis series.