APEX Fuel-San Sebastian and Builders Warehouse-University of Santo Tomas (UST) gun for their first win in the Philippine Basketball Association D-League Aspirants’ Cup at each other’s expense on Thursday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Golden Stags are fresh off a tough 86-74 loss to Marinerong Pilipino last week, but despite the defeat, they drew solid performances from the likes of Ichie Altamirano and Raymart Escobido.
“This is good for the boys because they’re gaining experience, so hopefully they’re maturing especially against the top teams,” Golden Stags coach Egay Macaraya said.
Tip-off is at 12:30 p.m., following the 10:30 a.m. clash between Adalem Construction-St. Clare (1-1), which is shooting for back-to-back wins, and winless AMA Online (0-2).
The Growling Tigers, on the other hand, are just desperate for a silver lining after tasting a 112-81 defeat at the hands of EcoOil-De La Salle.
Veteran Sherwin Concepcion and young guns Nic Cabanero and Kean Baclaan flashed their potential in the game, but Builders Warehouse-UST would need more help from the others if it wants to make some noise in the developmental ranks.
“We know that we still lack the pieces, but we’re hopeful that we could bounce back,” interim Growling Tigers coach Albert Alocillo said.