MANILA – BRT Sumisip Basilan-St. Clare Saints will enter the 2019 PBA D-League Foundation Cup quarterfinals with an untarnished slate after a 138-101 win over Italiano’s Homme at the Paco Arena in Manila.
Malian center Mohammed Pare tallied double-double 16 points and 14 rebounds, while Darwin Lunor and Jessie Collado submitted 16 and 14 markers, respectively.
The Saints swept the elimination round with a 6-0 record.
Joshua Fontanilla, who is set to transfer to University of Santo Tomas next year, flirted with a triple-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists.
The Saints had a sluggish start that saw them trail 16-18 until Chris Dumapig ignited an overwhelming 17-0 scoring run en route to a 33-18 lead with 9:31 remaining in the second frame.
The game would never be in question from then on as BRT Sumisip-St. Clare enjoyed a lead as high as 44 points, 134-90, following a Raymond Rubio three-pointer with 2:37 left in the game.
“Siyempre pagdating sa quarterfinals, semifinals, ibang istorya na ‘yan. Yung mga tambak namin, hindi naman namin ma-carry over. So we will start from scratch again,” said Saints head coach Stevenson Tiu.
Paolo Pontejos had 31 points and six boards while Francis Munsayac and Jun Bonsubre added 20 and 17 markers, respectively, as the Italiano’s Homme ended its campaign with a 1-5 card./PN
