RACAL booked its first Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League Finals appearance with a pulsating 78-74 Game Three victory over CaféFrance on Tuesday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
Jackson Corpuz and Allan Mangahas emerged heroes for the Tile Masters as the veterans came up big in the final one-and-a-half minutes of the game.
Corpuz nailed a huge three and an and-1 play to give Racal a 75-72 lead with 39.5 seconds left, while Kent Salado found an open Mangahas for a dagger three with 4.3 ticks remaining to finally break the glass ceiling for the perennial semifinalists.
“I just trusted them. ‘Good thing, I picked the right people in the endgame,” said Coach Jerry Codiñera, who steered his side to the Finals in his first conference with the Tile Masters.
Salado topped his side with 16 points, eight assists and six rebounds, while Mangahas went five-of-seven on threes to finish with 15 points.
Rey Nambatac added 11 points, five boards and three assists, while Sidney Onwubere had 10 points and seven rebounds in the win.
Racal will meet the winner of the Cignal-Tanduay semifinals series—which was played late Tuesday—on Thursday in the same venue.
Rod Ebondo led CaféFrance with 26 points, 20 rebounds and two blocks, while Paul Desiderio added 16 points and six boards.