San Beda takes PBA D-League top seed, Letran moves to cusp of No. 2

MANILA, Philippines – The Marinerong Pilipino-San Beda Red Lions clinched the top seed in the 2023 PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup off an 81-72 outgunning of the CEU Scorpions at the FilOil EcoOil Centre on Tuesday, May 30.

Jacob Cortez led the way with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals as San Beda rose to a 5-1 record – its lone loss coming at the hands of newcomer PSP in the conference’s first game.

Although the EcoOil-La Salle Green Archers may still forge a 5-1 tie, the Red Lions already hold the win-over-the-other tiebreaker.

Peter Alfaro, Yukien Andrada, and Clifford Jopia all scored 11 apiece, with Jopia adding 16 boards to his tally, as San Beda held on after nearly squandering a 17-point 2nd quarter lead, 36-19.

Ronrei Tolentino led all scorers with 25 points as CEU sunk to a 3-3 slate, still assured of a quarterfinals slot.

Meanwhile, the Wangs-Letran Knights stayed in contention for the second seed with a gutsy 62-61 escape of the Perpetual Help Altas to rise to a 3-2 record.

Letran can formalize its top two finish with a win over La Salle on Thursday, June 1, 4 pm.

Kobe Monje led the way with 15 points and 8 rebounds, while Kurt Reyson scored 13 off the bench, albeit on a 4-of-20 clip and a 1-of-11 from three.

Arthur Roque stuffed the stat sheet in the loss with 12 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 blocks, and no turnovers, while Cyrus Nitura added 11 points for the 3-3 Altas. – Rappler.com