MANILA, Philippines –The Superchargers were momentarily stunned by the Gems with a third quarter turnaround, but came to their senses with six minutes left in the game and pulled through with the win.
Big Chill, which will face defending champion NLEX in the finals, leaned on clutch three-point shooting by Alex Mallari, Keith Jensen and Elliot Tan to overhaul the nine-point lead and tie the game.
Mallari was just all over the place, posting 20 points, five rebounds, seven assists and three steals for the Superchargers, the same team that pushed the Road Warriors on the brink of elimination last conference.
The best-of-three finals start on Monday at the same venue.
Cebuana Lhuiller wasted an opportunity to be back in the finals of the D-League after it roared back from a 23-9 deficit and established a 69-90 edge in the fourth.
Top MVP candidate Vic Manuel finished with 17 points and nine rebounds for the Gems, who also bowed out of the semis in the last conference.