Photo by Nuki Sabio
MANILA, Philippines – A third-quarter burst got Cebuana Lhuillier rolling and the Gems went on to drub Big Chill, 81-65, Monday and regain top spot in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup at the Far Eastern University gym.
Vic Manuel, the former PBL MVP, finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds for the Gems, who pulled away from a 32-32 deadlock by outscoring the Superchargers, 26-14, after the break.
Terrence Romeo and Pari Llagas chipped in 14 points each to help the Gems join idle Freego Jeans for the lead at 5-1.
Also playing his best game yet with NLEX, Chris Ellis pumped in 21 points to power the Road Warriors past Cobra Energy Drink with the same winning score of 81-65 in the first game.
The defending champions, who rebounded from their first loss against Big Chill last week, improved to 2-1.
Gems coach Luigi Trillo commended his wards for keeping their cool despite the physical match that saw Big Chill big man Jewel Ponferada getting ejected in the second half.
“Our guards control the game and that’s the key in our system,” said Trillo. “We also didn’t lose focus when the game became physical.”
Big Chill absorbed its second loss in six games to slip to third place.
Although the Road Warriors cruised through most of the game, coach Boyet Fernandez said they didn’t play in sync even with San Sebastian stars Calvin Abueva, Ronald Pascual and Ian Sangalang back on board.
The Road Warriors took their first loss last week minus the San Sebastian trio, who suited up for their school in a collegiate tournament.
“Our defense is bad and our execution is questionable,” said Fernandez. “Some of our players haven’t focused on our system [due to schedule conflicts] with school teams.”
The scores:
First Game
NLEX 81—Ellis 21, Garcia 10, Pascual 9, Hodge 9, Monfort 8, Sangalang 7, Abueva 7, Co 7, Dehesa 3, Marcelo 0, Belencion 0.
COBRA 65—Nimes 21, Sumido 15, Noble 12, Ko 6, Flores 4, Casajeros 3, Duran 2, Tagarda 0, Stevens 0, Zablan 0.
Quarters: 22-14, 36-30, 54-43, 81-65
Second Game
CEBUANA LHUILLIER 81—Manuel 18, Romeo 14, Llagas 14, Hayes 7, Jeffries 6, Mangahas 6, Reyes 5, Celada 5, Cruz 4, Eximiniano 2, Atkins 0.
BIG CHILL 65—Jensen 13, Maconocido 10, Collado 7, Reyes 6, Custodio 6, Ponferada 5, Dizon 5, Santos 4, Tan 4, Mangahas 3, Glorioso 2, Galinato 0.
Quarters: 17-19; 32-32; 58-46, 81-65