It’s on to the finals for the Cocolife Davao Occidental Tigers in the Pilipinas Super League Pearl of the Orient Cup.
The Tigers pulled off a 70-55 crushing of the Basilan BRT, to sweep their semis series and move on to the finals on Friday.
They are now bracing for a showdown with the Cagayan de Oro Higalas at 7 p.m. at the Manuel Roxas Sports Complex in Roxas, Zamboanga.
The Higalas stunned the second-seeded Roxas Vanguards, 82-80, in overtime to sweep their own best-of-three semifinal series, 2-0.
League officials, led by Rocky Chan, said they are looking forward to their first finals in the league.
Once they’re done with their first finals’ series, the league will move on with their plans to hold an under-21 cagefest and regional competitions in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
Game 2 is set on Monday at University of Southeastern Philippines Gymnasium in Davao City at 7 p.m.
Commissioner Marc Pingris expressed satisfaction at how the tournament ran smoothly during its first season and thanked all those involved for making the league successful.
While the result was similar to its 74-55 Game 1 domination on Tuesday night, Davao Occidental actually started Game 2 slow as Basilan held them to just eight first-quarter points.
It was all Davao Occidental from thereon as they outscored Basilan, 25-11, in the second quarter to set up the blowout.