| 2016 PBA D-League Aspirant's Cup | |
|---|---|
| The 5th PBA Aspirant's Cup | |
| Duration | January 21-April 14, 2016 | 
| Number of teams | 9 | 
| Finals | |
| Champions | Phoenix-FEU Accelerators | 
| Runners-up | Cafefrance-CEU Bakers | 
| Awards | |
| Best Player | Mac Belo | 
| Finals MVP | Mac Belo | 
| PBA D-League Aspirant's Cup chronology | |
< 2015 
 | |
The 2016 PBA D-League Aspirants Cup was the first conference of the 2015-16 PBA Developmental League season. It was opened on January 21, 2016 at the Filoil Flying V Center and competed by 9 teams and it was finished on April 14, 2016 where the Phoenix-FEU Accelerators defeated the Cafefrance Bakers-CEU in the best-of-5 finals showdown, 3 games to 2 and clinching their first ever title in their franchise.[1]
Draft
The draft was conducted on December 1, 2015 at the PBA Cafe in Pasig. 215 hopefuls were applied in the draft for the chance to play in the league.[2]
Draft Order:
First Round
- 1.) Jason Perkins (Racal/Keramix - DLSU)
 - 2.) Julian Sargent (AMA University - DLSU)
 - 3.) Von Pessumal (Tanduay Light - Ateneo)
 - 4.) Taylor Statham (Cafe France)
 - 5.) Avery Scharer (Wang's Basketball - Shoreline CC)
 - 6.) Mikey Williams (Mindanao Aguilas - Cal State U)
 - 7.) Agustini Amar (Jam Liner - UP)
 - 8.) Richard Escoto (Phoenix Petroleum - FEU)
 - 9.) BDO-NU - Passed
 
Second Round
- 1.) Jordan Rios (Racal/Keramix - St. Clare)
 - 2.) Ryan Pascual (AMA University - Cal State-Long Beach)
 - 3.) Alfonso Gotladera (Tanduay Light - Ateneo)
 - 4.) John Karl Casiño (Cafe France - CEU)
 - 5.) Anton Castro (Wang's Basketball - Adamson)
 - 6.) Taylor Wetherell (Mindanao Aguilas)
 - 7.) Alfrancis Tamsi (Phoenix Petroleum - FEU)
 - 8.) Jam Liner - Passed
 - 9.) BDO-NU - Passed
 
Format
Conference format as it follows:[3]
- Teams will play in a single round-robin elimination round.
 - Top 8 teams will advance to the quarterfinals while the 9th placer team will be eliminated.
 - Top 4 teams will get a twice-to-beat quarterfinals incentive against lower-ranked teams to determine the semifinals placings. Semifinals is a best-of-three affair.
 - The two teams who won the semifinals matches will battle in a best-of-5 championship series.
 
Eliminations
The elimination round will run from January 21 to March 7, 2016. Games will be held in Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan and Ynares Sports Arena, Pasig.
Team standings
Team standing at the end of the elimination round:
| Pos | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cafefrance-CEU | 7 | 1 | .875 | — | Twice-to-beat in the quarter-finals | 
| 2 | Caida Tile Masters | 7 | 1 | .875 | — | |
| 3 | UP-QRS Jam Liner | 5 | 3 | .625 | 2 | |
| 4 | Phoenix Petroleum-FEU | 5 | 3 | .625 | 2 | |
| 5 | Tanduay Rhum Light Masters | 5 | 3 | .625 | 2 | Twice-to-win in the quarter-finals | 
| 6 | AMA University Titans | 2 | 6 | .250 | 5 | |
| 7 | BDO-NU | 2 | 6 | .250 | 5 | |
| 8 | Wangs Basketball | 1 | 7 | .125 | 6 | |
| 9 | Mindanao Aguilas | 1 | 7 | .125 | 6 | Eliminated | 
Rules for classification: a.) Head-to-head record, b.) Winning percentage c.)If necessary, use the quotient system.
Schedule
= Win; = OT win; = Loss; = OT loss
Results
Bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals  (Best-of-3 series)  | Finals  (Best-of-5 series)  | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Cafefrance-CEU | 90 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Wang's | 72 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Cafefrance-CEU | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Tanduay | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Jam Liner | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Tanduay | 1+1 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Cafefrance-CEU | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Phoenix-FEU | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Caida Tiles | 122 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | AMA University | 97 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Caida Tiles | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Phoenix-FEU | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Phoenix-FEU | 92 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | BDO-NU | 72 | ||||||||||||
BOLD- Series winner
- In the quarterfinal round of Jam Liner and Tanduay, Tanduay wins the round, via 68-66 and 99-89; or 2 games to 0.
 
Quarterfinals
March 10 14:00  | 
| Café France-CEU Bakers | 90–72 | Wang's Basketball | 
| Scoring by quarter: 26–9, 25–22, 22–20, 17–21 | ||
| Pts: de Leon 15 | Pts: Romero 12 | |
Ynares Sports Arena, Antipolo City  | 
March 10 16:00  | 
| Tanduay Rhum Masters | 68–66 | UP QRS/Jam Liner | 
| Scoring by quarter: 13–26, 10–13, 29–16, 16–11 | ||
| Pts: Llagas 13 | Pts: Aguilar 17 | |
Ynares Sports Arena, Antipolo City  | 
March 17  | 
| UP QRS/Jam Liner | 89–99 | Tanduay Rhum Masters | 
| Scoring by quarter: 21–28, 24–13, 11–25, 23–33 | ||
| Pts: Alolino 24 | Pts: Belencion 27 | |
| Tanduay wins series in two games | ||
Ynares Sports Arena, Antipolo  | 
March 15 16:00  | 
| Phoenix-FEU Accelerators | 92–72 | BDO-NU Team | 
| Scoring by quarter: 21–22, 30–13, 21–21, 20–16 | ||
| Pts: Tolomia 19 Rebs: Belo 12 Asts: Tolomia 6  | 
Pts: Aroga 21 Rebs: Aroga 15 Asts: Aroga 6  | |
San Juan Arena, San Juan, Metro Manila  | 
Semifinals
This round is in a best-of-3 format. The winner advances to the finals.
CafeFrance vs. Tanduay series
Game 1
March 27  | 
| CafeFrance Bakers - CEU 65, Tanduay Light Rhum Masters 58 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18-16, 14-12, 17-16, 16-14 | ||
| Pts: Ebondo 14 Rebs: Ebondo 10  | 
Pts: Llagas 13 Rebs: Cruz 5  | |
San Juan Arena, San Juan, Metro Manila  | 
Game 2
March 29 17:00  | 
| CafeFrance Bakers - CEU 72, Tanduay Light Rhum Masters 63 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19-16, 24-12, 8-16, 21-19 | ||
| Pts: De Leon, Ebondo 13 each Rebs: Abundo 7  | 
Pts: Lingganay 17 Rebs: Lingganay 9  | |
| Cafefrance sweeps series, 2-0 | ||
San Juan Arena, San Juan, Metro Manila  | 
Phoenix vs. Caida series
Game 1
March 22 14:00  | 
| Phoenix-FEU Accelerators 90, Caida Tile Masters 83 | ||
| Pts: Daquioag 32 Rebs: Ru. Escoto 10  | 
Pts: Grey 14 Rebs: Grey 4  | |
San Juan Arena, San Juan, Metro Manila  | 
Game 2
March 29 17:00  | 
| Caida Tile Masters 90, Phoenix-FEU Accelerators 94 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 28-26, 18-28, 26-15, 22-21 | ||
| Pts: Grey 22 | Pts: Daquioag 22 | |
| Phoenix sweeps series, 2-0 | ||
San Juan Arena, San Juan, Metro Manila  | 
Finals
Game 1
March 31  | 
| Cafefrance Bakers- CEU 78, Phoenix- FEU Accelerators 82 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 17-12, 24-17, 24-21, 17-28 | ||
| Pts: Ebondo 16 Rebs: Ebondo 18  | 
Pts: Pogoy 18 Rebs: Pogoy 9  | |
Ynares Sports Arena, Antipolo  | 
Game 2
Game 3
April 7  | 
| Phoenix-FEU Accelerators 85, Cafefrance Bakers- CEU 84 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18-17, 17-20, 26-31, 24-16 | ||
| Pts: Belo 22 Rebs: Pogoy 12 Asts: Pogoy 3  | 
Pts: Ebondo 18 Rebs: Ebondo 18  | |
Ynares Sports Arena, Antipolo  | 
With only 2.3 seconds left in the final frame and the Bakers leading by 2, 84-82, Roger Pogoy made a game-winning 3 pointer where it was assisted by Achie Inigo to close the gap to an inch for winning the 2016 PBA Aspirant's Cup title.[4]
Game 4
April 12  | 
| Cafefrance Bakers-CEU 100, Phoenix-FEU Accelerators 94 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21-21, 26-23, 28-20, 25-30 | ||
| Pts: Zamar 25 Rebs: Ebondo 13  | 
Pts: Tolomia 29 Rebs: Belo 15  | |
The Bakers led as much as 14, with a score of 82-68 in the final 6:47 of the game before the Mac Belo-led Phoenix-FEU drained down the lead to just a single point, 89-88 in the last 2:58 of the game. But Paul Zamar had answered the destruction to regain the six-point lead by the Bakers, 94-88 with 1:07 remaining.[5]
Game 5
April 14 15:00  | 
| Cafefrance Bakers-CEU 81, Phoenix-FEU Accelerators 88 (OT) | ||
| Pts: Zamar 20 Rebs: Ebondo 20  | 
Pts: Belo 25 Rebs: Belo 13  | |
| Phoenix wins series, 3-2 | ||
Ynares Sports Arena, Antipolo  | 
Tolomia of the Phoenix-FEU started exchanging threes with Paul Zamar as the Accelerators clinch an 81-78 lead with 2:39 left, but Roger Pogoy joined the party by hitting his shot from the downtown to extend his team's lead to 6, 84-78 in the last 10 seconds before the 2-minute mark.[6]
Awards
2016 PBA D-League Aspirant's Cup Champions: Phoenix-FEU Accelerators (1st title)
Runners-up: Cafefrance Bakers-CEU
Finals MVP: Mac Belo (19.6 points/game)
Tournament Most Valuable Player:Mac Belo
References
- ↑ Leongson, Randolph B. (4 January 2016). "Bakers open title bid vs Aguilas; D-League opens on Jan. 21". Inquirer.net. PBA. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
 - ↑ "Jason Perkins picked first overall by Racal-Keramix in PBA D-League rookie draft". Spin.ph. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
 - ↑ Jurado, Theodore (4 January 2016). "Caida meets Tanduay, Jam-UP battles BDO-NU in PBA D-League openers". People's Journal. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
 - ↑ Leongson, Randolph B. (7 April 2016). "Pogoy hits winner as Phoenix-FEU moves a win away from title". Inquirer.net. PBA. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
 - ↑ Leongson, Randolph B. (12 April 2016). "D-League Finals: Cafe France forces Game 5". Inquirer.net. PBA. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
 - ↑ Lozada, Bong (14 April 2016). "Phoenix rises in D-League; Claims title against Cafefrance". Inquirer.net. PBA. Retrieved 25 April 2016.