MANILA – Marinerong Pilipino Skippers capped off the 2019 PBA D-League Foundation Cup elimination round with an unblemished slate after an 88-74 win over Centro Escolar University Scorpions at the Paco Arena in Manila.
William McAloney tallied 21 points and seven rebounds on Sept. 9 while Negrense Mark Yee added 14 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and a steal.
The Skippers clinched the top spot in
Group A with 6-0 win-loss slate.
Roldan Sara finished with 13 points, five rebounds and three assists, while
Jhonard Clarito and Eliud Poligrates contributed 10 points each.
The Skippers will move to the quarterfinals with a twice-to-beat incentive against AMA Online Education Titans.
The Skippers were clinging on to a slim four-point lead, 78-74, with 2:12 to go in the game, but Sara converted a four-point play off Scorpions’ Maodo Malick Diouf’s sixth foul to make it 82-74.
Marinerong Pilipino then took full advantage of the Diouf’s absence as Yee made a lay-up to push the lead to 84-74 with 52.9 ticks left, and that was more than enough to seal the win.
“Masarap ang pakiramdam dahil ‘yung last game ng eliminations nakuha namin,” said Scorpions head coach Yong Garcia. “Very thankful ako sa mga players. ‘Yung endgame talagang tinrabaho nila.”
Kurt Sunga produced 17 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Diouf finished with a triple-double of 16 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists as the Scorpions slumped to 5-1 slate./PN
