GAMBOA Coffee Mix-St. Clare clobbered AMA Online Education, 136-90, on Thursday in the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
The Coffee Lovers cemented the fifth-seed in the quarterfinals despite being in a three-way tie for fourth between Che’Lu Bar and Grill-San Sebastian and Zark’s-Lyceum with identical 7-4 cards.
Gamboa will play fourth-seed Che'Lu in the quarterfinals but will have to beat the Revellers twice to advance into the semifinals.
Cris Bitoon had 31 points, while Trevis Jackson had 26 points in a lopsided win by Gamboa before it enters the playoff round.
After trailing by 9-2 to start the game, Gamboa pulled away in the second quarter, outscoring AMA, 35-18, thanks to Bitoon and Jackson, who already had 21 and 13 points, respectively, for the Coffee Lovers.
“Mag-peprepare lang kami mabuti,” said Gamboa-St. Clare coach Jino Manansala. “Gusto namin sila mabigyan ng magandang laban kahit twice-to-beat sila. ‘Yung mga bata, sige lang ng sige basta bawat opportunity na matanggap namin dito, aalagaan namin.”
Kyles Lao had 21 points, while the returning Andre Paras added 17 points and 13 rebounds for AMA, which finished the eliminations with a 1-10 record.
The scores:
Gamboa-St. Clare 136 - Bitoon 31, Jackson 26, Dionisio 13, Catura 11, Rubio 11, Hallare 9, Penaredondo 8, Decano 8, Jumaquio 6, Pare 5, Alcober 4, Fontanilla 4.
AMA Online Education 90 - Lao 21, Paras 17, J. Escalambre 13, C. Escalambre 11, Quijano 9, Velasquez 6, Antonares 5, Carpio 4, Garcia 2, Andaya 2.
Quarterscores: 25-27; 60-45; 97-70; 136-90.
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