ZAMBOANGA - DeMarcus Cousins led a crippling second-half breakaway to tow the Zamboanga Valientes to a 122-79 rout of the Naic Aces for a berth in the championship round of The Asian Tournament grand finals on Friday night.
The four-time NBA All-Star sparked a telling 28-8 run in the third quarter that took the fight out of the visiting Aces to the delight of a capacity weekend crowd at the Zamboanga Coliseum.
READ DeMarcus Cousins rejoins Valientes in time for playoffs
The 33-year-old Cousins had an all-around game of eight points, eight rebounds, and 14 assists in the win that set up the Valientes for a showdown with the Macau Black Bears for all the marbles on Saturday.
The Black Bears, winner of the inaugural leg, clinched the first finals berth with a 74-73 overtime win against Kobey Lam and the Vanta Black Dragons in the opening game.
Cousins vowed to lead the Valientes to their first title in the fledgling regional league.
"I plan to come out tomorrow (Saturday), play hard basketball, and try to bring a championship here," said Cousins to the cheers of the ecstatic home crowd.
Import Ricky Bryce actually showed the way for the host team with 30 points, 23 rebounds, and five assists, while former Meralco player Franky Johnson added 23 and Malik Diouf, the former UAAP MVP, had 10.
The Aces just trailed by 12 at the break before the Valientes came through with that huge third quarter run.
Photo: Wendell Alinea
Henry Iloka paced the Aces with 30 points and 18 rebounds, while getting in a heated argument with Cousins midway in the third period in the middle of that searing Valientes run.
The victory was a repeat for Valientes, who barely survived the Aces in their first meeting, 79-78 in which Cousins didn't play.
Zamboanga goes to the finals unbeaten in four games.
The scores
Zamboanga Valientes (122) - Bryce 30, Johnson 23, Diouf 10, Cousins 8, Tolomia 8, Alcantara 8, Lingganay 5, Salim 5, Esa 4, Ikakpuru 4, Belo 2.
Aces (79) - Iloka 30, Hammonds 18, wong 14, Ilad 7, Odou 6, Lacastesantos 2, Boac 2, Tuguib 0, Gregg 0, Roy 0, Vitug 0.
Quarterscores: 30-21; 52-40; 90-59; 122-79.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
