# 2018 PBA D-League Aspirants' Cup

The 2018 PBA D-League Aspirants Cup was the first conference of the 2017-18 PBA Developmental League season. It was opened on January 18, 2018, at the Ynares Sports Arena and competed by 13 teams and it was finished on May 1, 2018, where the Zark's Burger - LPU defeated the Che'Lu Bar & Grill in the best-of-three championship series, 2–1, and clinching their first ever title in their franchise.

## Tournament Format

* Ten teams will play in a single round-robin elimination phase.
* Only the top six teams will only make it to the playoffs after the elimination round.
* The top two seeds will head straight to the semifinals, while 3rd through 6th seeds will undergo in the quarterfinals.
* The semifinals and finals are both a best-of-three series.

## Standings

These are the final team standings at the end of elimination round:
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Akari - Adamson Soaring Falcons | 11 | 9 | 2 | .818 | — | Outright semifinals |
| 2 | Marinerong Pilipino Skippers | 11 | 9 | 2 | .818 | — | Outright semifinals |
| 3 | CEU Scorpions | 11 | 8 | 3 | .727 | 1 | Twice-to-beat in the quarterfinals |
| 4 | Che'lu Bar & Grill Revellers | 11 | 7 | 4 | .636 | 2 | Twice-to-beat in the quarterfinals |
| 5 | Gamboa Coffee Mixers | 11 | 7 | 4 | .636 | 2 | Twice-to-win in the quarterfinals |
| 6 | Zark's Jawbreakers | 11 | 7 | 4 | .636 | 2 | Twice-to-win in the quarterfinals |
| 7 | Wang's Basketball Couriers | 11 | 6 | 5 | .545 | 3 | Eliminated |
| 8 | Go for Gold Scratchers | 11 | 5 | 6 | .455 | 4 | Eliminated |
| 9 | Perpetual Altas | 11 | 3 | 8 | .273 | 6 | Eliminated |
| 10 | EAC Generals - Batangas | 11 | 2 | 9 | .182 | 7 | Eliminated |
| 11 | JRU Heavy Bombers | 11 | 2 | 9 | .182 | 7 | Eliminated |
| 12 | AMA Online Education Titans | 11 | 1 | 10 | .091 | 8 | Eliminated |
| 13 | Mila's Lechon Mighty Roasters | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 | 5.5 | Withdrew |
* ↑ Team withdrew from the league after playing four games due to internal problems.

### Results

| Teams | MPS | CEU | CHE | GAM | ZRK | WNG | GFG | UPHSD | EAC | JRU | AMA | MLS |
| Akari - Adamson | 80–75 | 57–76 | 84–75 | 92–85 | 76–83 | 90–71 | 98–92 | 101–83 | 89–79 | 71–64 | 100–89 | |
| Marinerong Pilipino | | 93–104 | 82–67 | 99–83 | 94–92 | 96–84 | 86–80 | 78–66 | 92–78 | 84–62 | 109–93 | |
| CEU Scorpions | | | 105–88 | 83–100 | 91–85 | 79–75 | 89–91* | 90–85 | 87–89 | 77–75 | 118–83 | |
| Che'lu Bar & Grill | | | | 79–73 | 97–88 | 82–83 | 87–65 | 83–70 | 99–60 | 74–67 | 83–79 | |
| Gamboa Coffee | | | | | 107–106* | 87–76 | 68–75 | 78–73 | 104–81 | 93–76 | 136–90 | 70–58 |
| Zark's-LPU | | | | | | 95–93 | 108–94 | 108–106* | 112–75 | 91–81 | 109–85 | 102–55 |
| Wang's Basketball | | | | | | | 91–88 | 88–83 | 94–92 | 73–55 | 93–75 | |
| Go for Gold | | | | | | | | 81–69 | – | – | 122–82 | |
| Perpetual Altas | | | | | | | | | – | – | 89–81 | 65–48 |
| EAC Generals | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| JRU Heavy Bombers | | | | | | | | | | | | 96–67 |
| AMA Titans | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Mila's Lechon | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Table included the results of Mila's Lechon prior to their withdrawal to the league. Number of asterisks after each score denotes number of overtimes played.

## Playoffs

| Quarterfinals (Higher seeds have twice-to-beat) | Quarterfinals (Higher seeds have twice-to-beat) | Quarterfinals (Higher seeds have twice-to-beat) | Quarterfinals (Higher seeds have twice-to-beat) | Semifinals (Best-of-3 series) | Semifinals (Best-of-3 series) | Semifinals (Best-of-3 series) | Finals (Best-of-3 series) | Finals (Best-of-3 series) | Finals (Best-of-3 series) |
| | | | | 1 | Akari-Adamson | 0 | | | |
| 4 | Che'lu Bar & Grill | Che'lu Bar & Grill | 80 | 4 | Che'lu Bar & Grill | 2 | | | |
| 5 | Gamboa Coffee | Gamboa Coffee | 72 | | | | 4 | Che'lu Bar & Grill | 1 |
| | | | | | | | 6 | Zark's Jawbreakers-LPU | 2 |
| | | | | 2 | Marinerong Pilipino Skippers | 0 | | | |
| 3 | CEU Scorpions | 95 | 77 | 6 | Zark's Jawbreakers-LPU | 2 | | | |
| 6 | Zark's Jawbreakers-LPU | 104 | 82 | | | | | | |

### Quarterfinals

Higher-seeded teams need only win once to advance to the semifinals, lower-seeded teams need to win twice to advance to the next round.

#### (#3) CEU Scorpions vs. (#6) Zark's Jawbreakers

* ESPN 5
* April 10, 2018
| CEU Scorpions | 95–104 | Zark's Jawbreakers-LPU |
* Pasig City Sports Center, Pasig
* ESPN 5
* April 12, 2018
| CEU Scorpions | 77–82 | Zark's Jawbreakers-LPU |
| Zark's-LPU wins series in two games |||
* Ynares Sports Arena, Pasig

#### (#4) Che'lu Bar & Grill Revellers vs. (#5) Gamboa Coffee Mixers

* ESPN 5
* April 10, 2018 2:00 pm
| Chelu Bar & Grill Revellers | 80–72 | Gamboa Coffee Mixers |
| Scoring by quarter: 16–27, 21–13, 15–16, 28–16 |||
* Pasig City Sports Center, Pasig

### Semifinals
#### (#1) Akari-Adamson Falcons vs. (#4) Che'lu Bar & Grill Revellers

* ESPN 5
* April 17, 2018
* Watch
| Akari-Adamson Falcons | 60–70 | Che'lu Bar & Grill Revellers |
| Scoring by quarter: 16–24, 19–11, 21–26, 4–9 |||
* Pasig City Sports Center, Pasig
* ESPN 5
* April 19, 2018
* Watch
| Akari-Adamson Falcons | 90–93 | Che'lu Bar & Grill Revellers |
| Scoring by quarter: 31–18, 25–32, 17–23, 17–20 |||
| Che'lu wins series, 2–0 |||
* Ynares Sports Arena, Pasig

#### (#2) Marinerong Pilipino Skippers vs. (#6) Zark's Jawbreakers

* ESPN 5
* April 17, 2018
* Watch
| Marinerong Pilipino Skippers | 87–90 (OT) | Zark's Jawbreakers-LPU |
| Scoring by quarter: 20–23, 23–12, 22–24, 16–22, Overtime: 6–9 |||
* Pasig City Sports Center, Pasig
* ESPN 5
* April 19, 2018
* Watch
| Marinerong Pilipino Skippers | 89–102 | Zark's Jawbreakers-LPU |
| Scoring by quarter: 21–23, 24–22, 19–31, 25–26 |||
| Zark's-LPU wins series, 2–0 |||
* Ynares Sports Arena, Pasig

### Finals

The finals is a best-of-three series.
* ESPN 5
* April 24, 2018 4:00 pm
| Che'lu Bar & Grill Revellers | 107–103 | Zark's Jawbreakers-LPU |
| Scoring by quarter: 34–26, 21–31, 21–19, 31–27 |||
* Pasig City Sports Center, Pasig
* ESPN 5
* April 26, 2018 4:00 pm
| Che'lu Bar & Grill Revellers | 90–98 | Zark's Jawbreakers-LPU |
| Scoring by quarter: 16–27, 18–27, 22–21, 34–23 |||
* Ynares Sports Arena, Pasig
* ESPN 5
* May 1, 2018 4:00 pm
| Che'lu Bar & Grill Revellers | 82–92 | Zark's Jawbreakers-LPU |
| Scoring by quarter: 18–21, 24–16, 28–27, 12–28 |||
| Zark's-LPU wins series, 2–1 |||
* Ynares Sports Arena, Pasig

## Awards

* 2018 PBA D-League Aspirant's Cup Champions
* Zark's Burgers Jawbreakers First title
* Conference MVP: CJ Perez (Zark's Burgers)