Big Chill rises to solo second

JECKSTER Apinan of JRU-Air21 disputes the rebound with Cagayan’s Jason Milano and Eliud Poligrates in yesterday’s game. EDWIN BELLOSILLO

Big Chill overwhelmed Erase XFoliant, 88-68, yesterday to solidify its hold of second spot, even as JRU-Air21 notched only its second win of the tournament in thrilling fashion in the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup at Emilio Aguinaldo Gym.

Responding emphatically from the loss to Fruitas last week, the Superchargers leaned on guards Terrence Romeo and Mar Villahermosa to post their fifth win in seven games.

The Heavy Bombers avoided a meltdown as they slipped past the Cagayan Rising Suns, 103-100, in overtime.

Jeckster Apinan and Alex Almario buried clutch triples in overtime to help the Bombers survive the surging Suns, who climbed out of an 18-point hole early in the fourth period to force overtime.

The Bombers also needed a big game from Philip Paniamogan, who wound up with 26 points, including a corner triple with 10 seconds remaining in regulation. The victory spoiled the career game of Cagayan guard Chris Exciminiano, who led the Rising Suns’ rally and finished with 29 points.

“We had too many individual plays in the last two games,” said JRU coach Vergel Meneses, whose team improved to 2-4. “It’s good that in this game, we played the way we wanted to.”

Big Chill coach Robert Sison was also delighted with his team’s performance: “We went back to the basics with our defense, and the offense just followed.”

The scores:

First Game

JRU-AIR21 103—Paniamogan 26, Maiquez 14, Pinto 10, Villarias 9, Apinan 9, Ighalo 8, Del Rio 8, Lopez 5, Miranda 5, Caperal 4, Mabulac 3, Almario 2, Acidre 0.

CAGAYAN 100—Exciminiano 29, Poligrates 24, Bringas 16, Celada 11, Forrester 9, Webb 6, Melano 5, Cruz 0, Gusi 0, Bartolo 0, Chiong 0, Lao 0, Almazan 0.

Quarters: 25-14, 50-45, 77-60, 94-94 (reg.), 103-100 (OT)

Second Game:

BIG CHILL 88—Romeo 21, Villahermosa 19, Montilla 9, Lozada 8, Semira 7, Brondial 6, Buenafe 5, Bringas 4, Cortes 3, Montecastro 2, Collado 2, Santos 2, Canta 0, Canlas 0.

ERASE XFOLIANT 68—Matute 19, Gomez 12, Babayemi 10, Racal 9, Omorogbe 3, Banal 3, Arboleda 3, Vijandre 3, Vidal 3, Stevens 2, Alano 1, Petilos 0, Najorda 0.

Quarters: 15-18, 48-33, 68-48, 88-68