Reymar Jose chalked up a double-double off the bench and Cignal earned another trip to the finals by dispatching Marinerong Pilipino, 87-64, on Tuesday in the Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League Foundation Cup semifinals at the Ynares Arena in Pasig City.
Determined to get the job done, the Hawkeyes dominated the entire game and never gave their mismatched opponent a chance to pull even. Cignal wrapped up the best-of-three series at two games to nil.
That put the Hawkeyes within two victories of completing a title sweep of the season’s two conferences. Cignal clinched the Aspirants Cup championship in early-April.
“It’s been a tough conference for us. Hopefully, we could finish it with another championship,” Cignal Coach Boyet Fernandez said.
Fernandez added Marinerong Pilipino Coach Koy Banal made a lot of on-the-spot adjustments but was pleased that his troops effectively survived it.
Jose finished with a game-high 24-points, including 11 in the fourth quarter when the Hawkeyes ripped the game apart. He also cornered 11 rebounds.
Pamboy Raymundo scored 18 points, Byron Villarias had 16 and Jonathan Uyloan added 15 for Cignal, which made 11 of 31 attempts from three-point range. The trio combined for 11 of 25 shooting from behind the arc.
Cignal, which led by as many as 25 points, will face the winner of the other semifinal between Flying V and Centro Escolar University.
“Whichever of the two teams gets to the finals will be a tough matchup. We just have to prepare and stay focused on our goal,” Fernandez said.
The Skippers kept the game close until midway in the third quarter but not close enough to have a shot at turning the game around.
Two free throws by Jeff Javillonar pulled the Skippers within 37-44 with 6:36 left in the third. But Raymundo, who went four of seven from three-point range, knocked down successive treys to give the Hawkeyes a 13 point lead.
Robert Herndon and Javillonar were the only Skippers in double figures with 17 apiece.