Art Aquino and Rodrigue Ebondo tallied double-double to power Centro Escolar University (CEU) past Flying V, 72-67, in the deciding Game Three of their semifinal duel on Thursday to advance to the championship of the Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League Foundation Cup at the Ynares Arena.
Aquino finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Ebondo chalked up 11 points and 18 boards for the Scorpions, who kept the game close before turning the game around in the closing seconds.
Ebondo scored the team’s last five points from the line, including the two with 28 seconds left, to put the Scorpions ahead for good, 69-67.
CEU will face second seed Cignal in a best-of-three finals starting on Tuesday.
It was a frustrating loss for the Thunder, who swept the eliminations and were heavily favored to win it all with its wealth of talent.
And they appeared to be headed to the finals after beating the Scorpions in Game One.
But their defeat in Game Two—their first in 12 games—exposed their weakness and the Scorpions capitalized on it.
Orlan Wamar, who turned 19 on Thursday, came off the bench to score a team-high 17 points.
Jeron Teng led all scorers with 19 points. Hans Thiele was the only other player in double figures for Flying V with 13.
Flying V led by as many as 13 points early in the second quarter but couldn’t sustain it’s shooting and couldn’t match CEU’s hustle and energy.