MANILA – BRT Sumisip Basilan-St. Clare Saints reached the finals of the 2019 PBA D-League Foundation Cup after a 73-59 ouster of Centro Escolar University Scorpions in the do-or-die semifinals at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig.
Joshua Fontanilla tallied 15 points, four rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks while Chris Dumapig chipped in 11 markers and six rebounds.
The Saints won the best-of-three series, 2-1, on Thursday night.
“Lahat gustong pumasok ng Finals especially for this school, for the young guys,” said Saints head coach Stevenson Tiu. “Gusto raw nila makalaro sa Finals which they worked hard for naman.”
From a deadlock at 43-all with 2:18 left in the third quarter, the Saints unloaded a 14-4 scoring run behind Fontanilla and Dumapig en route to a 57-47 lead with 8:29 remaining in the payoff period.
BRT Sumisip-St. Clare would never lose hold of the driver’s seat since, leading by as many as 17 points, 73-56, after a Fontanilla bucket with 1:18 left to play.
The Saints now have their sights on Marinerong Pilipino Skippers, which they will face in the best-of-three championship series starting on Oct. 3.
Jerome Santos had 16 points and five rebounds, while Senagalese center Maodo Malick Diouf had 13 points, 20 rebounds, six blocks, five assists, and three steals.
Rich Guinitaran chimed in 12 markers
in the defeat./PN
