Waves advance to D-League quarters with win against Shakers

THE BORACAY Rum Waves sneaked into the quarterfinals as they handed the Fruitas Shakers a 63-54 loss in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup yesterday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
Spitfire guard Jeff Viernes had 12 points including several key baskets in crunchtime that got the Waves into the next round.
The Waves wound up tied with the Shakers at close of the elimination round at 7-4 (win-loss) with both teams enjoying a twice-to-beat advantage in the next round.
Jonathan Fernandez made a couple of three pointers in the fourth quarter with his last trey with 4:41 left putting the Waves ahead for good.
Viernes scored seven of his team’s last nine points to keep the rallying Shakers at bay.
Boracay’s victory also enabled idle Blackwater Sports (8-3) to grab the second outright semifinal berth.
Earlier defending champion NLEX rolled to its ninth consecutive victory by subduing Jumbo Plastic, 81-70, to finish the eliminations with a 9-2 record. Jumbo Plastic wound up with a 4-7 mark.
Boracay will face EA Regen while Fruitas will take Big Chill in the quarterfinal starting  next Tuesday.  EA Regen and Big Chill finished the elims tied with Cagayan Valley and Cebuana Lhuillier with 6-5 cards but earned spots in the quarters on the strength of their superior quotients. /correspondent Jonas Panerio