FLYING V looks to complete an elimination-round sweep when the Thunder battle Batangas on Tuesday in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup.
The match starts at 5 p.m. at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig after the 3 p.m. tussle between Centro Escolar University and also-ran Racal.
Already assured of an outright semifinal seat, Flying V (9-0) is trying to become just the fourth team to complete an unbeaten run in the preliminaries after NLEX in 2012 and 2014 Foundation Cups, and Cagayan Valley in the 2015 Aspirants’ Cup.
Flying V Eric Altamirano says they are not letting up as they still need some fine tuning before the semifinals.
“We still have a lot of things to work on. Hindi ibig sabihin na pasok na kami sa semis is that we will not give our best. That mentality will help us especially when we get into the playoffs,” said Altamirano.
Jeron Teng also says the Thunder can’t take any game lightly.
"We talked about our last two games in the eliminations and as a team, we really want to maximize it and learn as much as we can to improve before the playoffs," said Teng.
Batangas is out to foil the Thunder’s bid for a sweep and got a boost with the addition of Robby Celiz, acquired after Zark’s Burger was eliminated and Joseph Sedurifa was called up by mother team Meralco.
“Syempre ilalaban natin yan. Laban lang ng laban. Hopefully, magkaroon ng milagro sa Flying V game para sa amin,” said Batangas coach Eric Gonzales.
Meanwhile, CEU seeks to claim the last quarterfinal spot when it takes on Racal.
CEU coach Yong Garcia will again lean on Cameroonian import Rod Ebondo and guards JK Casino and Aaron Jeruta in the do-or-die match.
“The team has been preparing and training hard for the game and I always remind the boys to give their best, play hard, focus, and execute kasi nga it’s a do-or-die game for us,” said Garcia.
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