Defending champion EcoOil-La Salle and Wangs Basketball@27 Strikers-Letran aim to finish off their respective semifinal opponents Tuesday to arrange a final showdown in the 2023 Philippine Basketball Association D-League Aspirants’ Cup at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Riding on the crest of their big wins in Game 1, the Green Archers shoot for the bullseye against the University of Perpetual Help System Dalta at 2 p.m., while the Knights tries to eliminate fierce rival Marinerong Pilipino-San Beda in their 4 p.m. encounter.
La Salle defeated Perpetual, 107-78, while Letran battled back from a 24-point deficit to stun San Beda, 93-87, in overtime in the opener of their respective
best-of-three semifinal series.
“Hopefully, we win Game 2. We’re ready. We’ll take it a quarter-by-quarter approach. We’ll just play our game and stick to our game plan,” Letran coach Rensy Bajar said.
“It’s a best-of-three series so the challenge is for us to get better in Game 2. If we can’t match our level of play I Game 1, then we’re not in the right direction. We’ll keep challenging the team and hopefully they will step up,” La Salle assistant coach Gian Nazario said.
The Red Lions and the Altas though are expected to provide a tough challenge and foil their rivals’ bid.
“It’s a good test for our team’s character on how we will react after a tough loss. The team is in high spirits in practices,” San Beda coach Yuri Escueta said.
“La Salle is a tough team. Hoping our adjustments in Game 1 will work for us to extend the series,” vowed Perpetual coach Myk Saguiguit.
