2016 PBA D-League Aspirants' Cup
The 2016 PBA D-League Aspirants Cup was the first conference of the 2015-16 PBA Developmental League season. It was opened on January 21, 2016 at the Filoil Flying V Center and competed by 9 teams and it was finished on April 14, 2016 where the Phoenix-FEU Accelerators defeated the Cafefrance Bakers-CEU in the best-of-5 finals showdown, 3 games to 2 and clinching their first ever title in their franchise. [1]
| 2016 PBA D-League Aspirant's Cup | |
|---|---|
| The 5th PBA Aspirant's Cup | |
| Duration | January 21-April 14, 2016 |
| Number of teams | 9 |
| Finals | |
| Champions | Phoenix-FEU Accelerators |
| Runners-up | Cafefrance-CEU Bakers |
| Awards | |
| Best Player | Mac Belo |
| Finals MVP | Mac Belo |
| PBA D-League Aspirant's Cup chronology | |
< 2015
| |
Draft
The draft was conducted on December 1, 2015 at the PBA Cafe in Pasig City. 215 hopefuls were applied in the draft for the chance to play in the league.[2]
Draft Order:
First Round
- 1.) Jason Perkins (Racal/Keramix - DLSU)
- 2.) Julian Sargent (AMA University - DLSU)
- 3.) Von Pessumal (Tanduay Light - Ateneo)
- 4.) Taylor Statham (Cafe France)
- 5.) Avery Scharer (Wang's Basketball - Shoreline CC)
- 6.) Mike Williams (Mindanao Aguilas - Cal State U)
- 7.) Agustini Amar (Jam Liner - UP)
- 8.) Richard Escoto (Phoenix Petroleum - FEU)
- 9.) BDO-NU - Passed
Second Round
- 1.) Jordan Rios (Racal/Keramix - St. Clare)
- 2.) Ryan Pascual (AMA University - Cal State-Long Beach)
- 3.) Alfonso Gotladera (Tanduay Light - Ateneo)
- 4.) John Karl Casiño (Cafe France - CEU)
- 5.) Anton Castro (Wang's Basketball - Adamson)
- 6.) Taylor Wetherell (Mindanao Aguilas)
- 7.) Alfrancis Tamsi (Phoenix Petroleum - FEU)
- 8.) Jam Liner - Passed
- 9.) BDO-NU - Passed
Format
Conference format as it follows:[3]
- Teams will play in a single round-robin elimination round.
- Top 8 teams will advance to the quarterfinals while the 9th placer team will be eliminated.
- Top 4 teams will get a twice-to-beat quarterfinals incentive against lower-ranked teams to determine the semifinals placings. Semifinals is a best-of-three affair.
- The two teams who won the semifinals matches will battle in a best-of-5 championship series.
Eliminations
The elimination round will run from January 21 to March 7, 2016. Games will be held in Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan and Ynares Sports Arena, Pasig.
Team standings
Team standing at the end of the elimination round:
| Pos | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cafefrance-CEU | 7 | 1 | .875 | — | Twice-to-beat in the quarter-finals |
| 2 | Caida Tile Masters | 7 | 1 | .875 | — | |
| 3 | UP-QRS Jam Liner | 5 | 3 | .625 | 2 | |
| 4 | Phoenix Petroleum-FEU | 5 | 3 | .625 | 2 | |
| 5 | Tanduay Rhum Light Masters | 5 | 3 | .625 | 2 | Twice-to-win in the quarter-finals |
| 6 | AMA University Titans | 2 | 6 | .250 | 5 | |
| 7 | BDO-NU | 2 | 6 | .250 | 5 | |
| 8 | Wangs Basketball | 1 | 7 | .125 | 6 | |
| 9 | Mindanao Aguilas | 1 | 7 | .125 | 6 | Eliminated |
Rules for classification: a.) Head-to-head record, b.) Winning percentage c.)If necessary, use the quotient system.
Schedule
= Win; = OT win; = Loss; = OT loss
Results
Bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals (Best-of-3 series) | Finals (Best-of-5 series) | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Cafefrance-CEU | 90 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Wang's | 72 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Cafefrance-CEU | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Tanduay | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Jam Liner | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Tanduay | 1+1 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Cafefrance-CEU | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Phoenix-FEU | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Caida Tiles | 122 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | AMA University | 97 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Caida Tiles | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Phoenix-FEU | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Phoenix-FEU | 92 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | BDO-NU | 72 | ||||||||||||
BOLD- Series winner
- In the quarterfinal round of Jam Liner and Tanduay, Tanduay wins the round, via 68-66 and 99-89; or 2 games to 0.
Quarterfinals
March 10 14:00 |
| Café France-CEU Bakers | 90–72 | Wang's Basketball |
| Scoring by quarter: 26–9, 25–22, 22–20, 17–21 | ||
| Pts: de Leon 15 | Pts: Romero 12 | |
Ynares Sports Arena, Antipolo City |
March 10 16:00 |
| Tanduay Rhum Masters | 68–66 | UP QRS/Jam Liner |
| Scoring by quarter: 13–26, 10–13, 29–16, 16–11 | ||
| Pts: Llagas 13 | Pts: Aguilar 17 | |
Ynares Sports Arena, Antipolo City |
March 17 |
| UP QRS/Jam Liner | 89–99 | Tanduay Rhum Masters |
| Scoring by quarter: 21–28, 24–13, 11–25, 23–33 | ||
| Pts: Alolino 24 | Pts: Belencion 27 | |
| Tanduay wins series in two games | ||
March 15 16:00 |
| Phoenix-FEU Accelerators | 92–72 | BDO-NU Team |
| Scoring by quarter: 21–22, 30–13, 21–21, 20–16 | ||
| Pts: Tolomia 19 Rebs: Belo 12 |
Pts: Aroga 21 Rebs: Aroga 15 | |
San Juan Arena, San Juan, Metro Manila |
Semifinals
This round is in a best-of-3 format. The winner advances to the finals.
Game 1
March 27 |
| CafeFrance Bakers - CEU 65, Tanduay Light Rhum Masters 58 | ||
| Pts: Ebondo 14 Rebs: Ebondo 10 |
Pts: Llagas 13 Rebs: Cruz 5 | |
San Juan Arena, San Juan, Metro Manila |
Game 2
March 29 17:00 |
| CafeFrance Bakers - CEU 72, Tanduay Light Rhum Masters 63 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19-16, 24-12, 8-16, 21-19 | ||
| Pts: De Leon, Ebondo 13 each Rebs: Abundo 7 |
Pts: Lingganay 17 Rebs: Lingganay 9 | |
| Cafefrance sweeps series, 2-0 | ||
San Juan Arena, San Juan, Metro Manila |
Game 1
March 22 14:00 |
| Phoenix-FEU Accelerators 90, Caida Tile Masters 83 | ||
| Pts: Daquioag 32 Rebs: Ru. Escoto 10 |
Pts: Grey 14 Rebs: Grey 4 | |
San Juan Arena, San Juan, Metro Manila |
Game 2
March 29 17:00 |
| Caida Tile Masters 90, Phoenix-FEU Accelerators 94 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28-26, 18-28, 26-15, 22-21 | ||
| Pts: Grey 22 | Pts: Daquioag 22 | |
| Phoenix sweeps series, 2-0 | ||
San Juan Arena, San Juan, Metro Manila |
Finals
Game 1
March 31 |
| Cafefrance Bakers- CEU 78, Phoenix- FEU Accelerators 82 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 17-12, 24-17, 24-21, 17-28 | ||
| Pts: Ebondo 16 Rebs: Ebondo 18 |
Pts: Pogoy 18 Rebs: Pogoy 9 | |
Ynares Sports Arena, Antipolo |
Game 2
Game 3
April 7 |
| Phoenix-FEU Accelerators 85, Cafefrance Bakers- CEU 84 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18-17, 17-20, 26-31, 24-16 | ||
| Pts: Belo 22 Rebs: Pogoy 12 |
Pts: Ebondo 18 Rebs: Ebondo 18 | |
Ynares Sports Arena, Antipolo |
With only 2.3 seconds left in the final frame and the Bakers leading by 2, 84-82, Roger Pogoy made a game-winning 3 pointer where it was assisted by Achie Inigo to close the gap to an inch for winning the 2016 PBA Aspirant's Cup title.[4]
Game 4
April 12 |
| Cafefrance Bakers-CEU 100, Phoenix-FEU Accelerators 94 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21-21, 26-23, 28-20, 25-30 | ||
| Pts: Zamar 25 Rebs: Ebondo 13 |
Pts: Tolomia 29 Rebs: Belo 15 | |
The Bakers led as much as 14, with a score of 82-68 in the final 6:47 of the game before the Mac Belo-led Phoenix-FEU drained down the lead to just a single point, 89-88 in the last 2:58 of the game. But Paul Zamar had answered the destruction to regain the six-point lead by the Bakers, 94-88 with 1:07 remaining. [5]
Game 5
April 14 15:00 |
| Cafefrance Bakers-CEU 81, Phoenix-FEU Accelerators 88 (OT) | ||
| Pts: Zamar 20 Rebs: Ebondo 20 |
Pts: Belo 25 Rebs: Belo 13 | |
| Phoenix wins series, 3-2 | ||
Ynares Sports Arena, Antipolo |
Tolomia of the Phoenix-FEU started exchanging threes with Paul Zamar of the Cafefrance-CEU as the Accelerators clinch an 81-78 lead with 2:39 left, but Roger Pogoy joined the party by hitting his shot from the downtown to extend his team's lead to 6, 84-78 in the last 10 seconds before the 2-minute mark.[6]
Awards
2016 PBA D-League Aspirant's Cup Champions: Phoenix-FEU Accelerators (1st title)
Runners-up: Cafefrance Bakers-CEU
Finals MVP: Mac Belo (19.6 points/game)
Tournament Most Valuable Player:Mac Belo
References
- Leongson, Randolph B. (4 January 2016). "Bakers open title bid vs Aguilas; D-League opens on Jan. 21". Inquirer.net. PBA. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
- "Jason Perkins picked first overall by Racal-Keramix in PBA D-League rookie draft". Spin.ph. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
- Jurado, Theodore (4 January 2016). "Caida meets Tanduay, Jam-UP battles BDO-NU in PBA D-League openers". People's Journal. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
- Leongson, Randolph B. (7 April 2016). "Pogoy hits winner as Phoenix-FEU moves a win away from title". Inquirer.net. PBA. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- Leongson, Randolph B. (12 April 2016). "D-League Finals: Cafe France forces Game 5". Inquirer.net. PBA. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
- Lozada, Bong (14 April 2016). "Phoenix rises in D-League; Claims title against Cafefrance". Inquirer.net. PBA. Retrieved 25 April 2016.