THE HAPEE Fresh Fighters escaped the upset axe as they used a late run to escape the MP Hotel Warriors, 87-81, in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup yesterday at the Arena in San Juan City.
The win gave Hapee a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals but it would not have been possible had it not been for the efforts of Ola Adeogun, Chris Newsome and Baser Amer, who ignited an 11-0 run to take down the resilient Warriors for good.
MP Hotel actually led by as many as 10, 79-69, and were still up, 67-64, when Hapee unloaded its run that turned the game around in its favor.
Art de la Cruz led Hapee with 15 points, while Adeogun chipped in 14. Newsome and Amer had 13 and 11 points, respectively, for the Fresh Fighters.
In the other game, Cagayan Valley won its first match without banned head coach Alvin Pua as it beat the Cebuana Lhuillier Gems, 102-95.
The Rising Suns finished the eliminations with the same 6-3 (win-loss) record as Hapee but took the third spot by virtue of the winner-over-the-other rule.
Cebuana Lhuillier dropped its second game in a row and fell to 7-2. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio
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