Reigning champion EcoOil-La Salle flaunted its might as it crushed Marinerong Pilipino-San Beda, 82-71, to advance to the semifinals of the 2024 Philippine Basketball Association D-League Aspirants’ Cup late Thursday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

The Green Archers, who swept the Red Lions in last year’s finals, led from start to finish to complete a five-game sweep in the six-team, single round classification phase and clinch the top seeding in the next round.

La Salle assistant coach Gian Nazario said they played Marinerong Pilipino with a lot of caution, knowing that they are the reigning champions in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

“The first thing we told our players heading into this game was we have to respect San Beda. They’re not the NCAA champions for nothing and they’re coming off a tough loss against CEU (Centro Escolar University) so we expected a physical battle,” Nazario said.

CEU became the biggest beneficiary of EcoOil-La Salle’s victory as it claimed the other outright semis seat up for grabs following its 96-78 victory over CCI-Yengskivel in the second game to finish the round with a 4-1 record.

It was a tough loss for the Red Lions, who absorbed their second defeat in a span of three days. They finished with a 3-2 mark and were relegated to the quarterfinals, although with a twice-to-beat advantage against Keanzel Basketball, which lost to GoTorakku-St. Clare, 124-90, in the first match.

The other quarterfinal pairing pits Go Torakku-St. Clare (2-3) and CCI-Yengskivel (1-4) with the former also enjoying a win-once bonus.

The quarterfinals start on Monday.