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| PBA |
By Ivan Saldajeno
SAN JUAN, MM--Five days after Cafe France botched a good-sized margin and lost to Phoenix-FEU on a last-second triple by RR Pogoy, the club once again had a big lead slipped away.
Still, the Bakers romped the Accelerators in Game 4, 100-94, on Tuesday at the FilOil Flying V Centre to bring the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup Finals to a deciding fifth game.
Similar to the storyline of the first three meetings, Cafe France, coming from a close first half, tried to pull away in the second half and opened an 82-68 lead with 6:47 remaining in the game.
But Phoenix-FEU, trying to close out the series, crawled back and tied the game, 86-all, with 3:30 to go.
The Bakers showed they have their lessons from the previous match by going on a clutch 14-5 run to finally get the win.
Paul Zamar fired 25 points on 7-of-12 shooting along with five rebounds and two assists off the bench, while Rod Ebondo added 18 points and 13 rebounds for Cafe France, who waved off a 29-point outburst from Mike Tolomia.
Mac Belo, who was named the tournament MVP before the game, backstopped Tolomia with 24 points alongside 15 rebounds, three assists, one block, and one steal for Phoenix-FEU.
Game 5 is set on Thursday at 3 p.m. at the Ynares Sports Arena.
Box Scores:
Cafe France-CEU 100-Zamar 25, Ebondo 18, Cruz 17, De Leon 15, Abundo 8, Jeruta 8, Villahermosa 3, Casiño 3, Manlangit 2, Opiso 1, Arim 0, Celso 0
Phoenix-FEU 94-Tolomia 29, Belo 24, Pogoy 14, Daquioag 9, Jose 6, Iñigo 3, Mendoza 3, Ri. Escoto 2, Andrada 2, Ru. Escoto 2, Tamsi 0
Quarterscores: 21-21, 47-44, 75-64, 100-94
Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno
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