EXCELROOF, a new team comprised mostly of first-timers in the league, tries to put a fitting climax to its Cinderella tale Saturday when it goes for the jugular against Pharex B-Complex in Game 2 of their PBL PG Flex Placenta Cup title series at The Arena in San Juan.
Everything appears to favor the Excelroof 25ers after winning Game 1 of their best-of-three championship series last Thursday albeit the hard way as they needed extra five minutes to pull off a 97-87 victory.
It was indeed a huge and inspiring victory for the Edwin C. Chua-owned 25ers as they rallied from a 17-point deficit in the third quarter to produce one of the exhilarating wins in a championship series that ended Pharex's impressive six-game winning run.
That amazing come-from-behind victory, many believe, will certainly boost Exceroof's confidence when they clash with the top-seeded Pharex at 3 p.m.
Meantime, league pays tribute to some individuals who made a great impact in the season-opening tournament with Pharex's Vic Manuel, Excelroof's Jimbo Aquino and Cobra Energy Drink’s Paul Lee vying for the Best Player of the Conference. The Mythical Five will be named prior to the game.
Credit Excelroof's victory to the gusty plays of Calvin Abueva, Gilbert Bulawan, Pamboy Raymundo and Aquino -- the very same players who carried San Sebastian College to a stunning victory over San Beda College in last year's NCAA championship.
Excelroof coach Ato Agustin, however, is not taking things lightly knowing that closing out a series is no easy task.
That’s because Agustin, the architect behind San Sebastian's resurgence, believes Pharex is capable of bouncing back.
But if they can come up with the same intensity they dished out in the fourth quarter and overtime, the 25ers, according to Agustin, can celebrate big time before the Holy Week.
“Our offensive rebounding will be the key to our success, so if we can do better than what we did the last time, then we’ll have a good chance of closing out the series,” said the former PBA MVP who is eyeing his third championship as a coach.
Aquino again led Excelroof with 27 points despite a woeful 8-of-26 shooting from the field but it was the razzle-dazzle performance of Abueva in the fourth and overtime periods that spelled the difference.
He had seven points in the extra period and was made two crucial stops to finally take the fight out of the Fighting Maroons.