Romeo lifts Big Chill past Cagayan Valley

LUCA Tagarda of Boracay Rum tries to pry the ball away from Reggie Malinao of Hog’s Breath Cafe in yesterday’s game, AUGUST DELA CRUZ

Mar Villahermosa shot 19 of his 21 points in the second half and Terrence Romeo nailed the marginal basket as Big Chill nipped Cagayan Valley, 93-92, yesterday in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Villahermosa, who combined for nine triples with Mac Montilla, helped the Superchargers wrest the lead, 88-79, and Romeo scored on a layup that gave the Superchargers a 93-90 edge with seven seconds left after the Rising Suns had threatened at, 90-91.

“When Cagayan was making its run, we were rattled for a while but we were able to regain our composure,” coach Robert Sison said after his Superchargers foiled the Rising Suns’ bid to grab a share of the top spot.

In other games, Cebuana Lhuillier dumped Informatics, 101-76, to improve to third at 4-2, while Boracay Rum survived a huge run by newcomer Hog’s Breath Cafe and escaped with a 72-68 victory.

Before Romeo’s game-clincher, the Rising Suns blew a chance to take the lead when Chris Exciminiano missed an easy layup with over 10 seconds left.

The Rising Suns, who fell into a tie with the Superchargers at 3-2, missed another chance to forge overtime time when Mark Bringas’ three-point attempt fell short. Adrian Celada scored an inconsequential basket at the buzzer for the final tally.

Montilla had 13 of his 18 points in the second half, while Romeo and Janus Lozada wound up with 14 each.

June Dizon had 14 points to lead seven Cebuana players in double figures.

Roider Cabrera pumped in 20 points to lead the Waves, who picked up their fourth win in seven games after surviving the Razorback’s furious 23-7 rally in the closing minutes.

The scores:

First Game

BIG CHILL 93—Villahermosa 21, Montilla 18, Romeo 14, Lozada 14, Canlas 13, Heruela 4, Bringas 4, Holstein 2, Santos 2, Nuyles 1.

CAGAYAN VALLEY 92—Bringas 26, Webb 19, Poligrates 14, Exciminiano 12, Cruz 10, Celada 7, Canta 2,Melano 2, Montemayor 0, Del Rio 0.

Quarters: 18-15, 44-33, 71-62, 93-92

Second Game

CEBUANA LHUILLIER 101—Dizon 14, Bautista 13, Aguilar 12, Martinez 11, Banal 10, Zamar 10, Lopez 10, Bustos 10, Padilla 8, Buensuceso 2, Sarangay 2, Montecastro 0, Chiu 0, Custodio 0.

INFORMATICS 76—Teng 26, Mabayo 13, Altamrinao 10,Benitez 6, Cabonce 5, Ablaza 4, Acuña 4, Montano 4, Acidre 4, Morales 0, Labis 0, Bartolo 0, Matute 0.

Quarters: 29-8, 55-27, 78-48, 101-76

Third Game

BORACAY RUM 72—Cabrera 20, Sabellina 17, Viernes 8, Acibar 6, Taha 6, Bandaying 5, Siruma 3, Eguilos 2, Rosopa 2, Ilagan 2, Arellano 1, Tagarda 0, Monteclaro 0.

HOG’S BREATH CAFE 68—Belorio 15, Roy 11, Cayabyab 9, Eman 8, Lima 7, Pangilinan 5, Malinao 4, Morillo 4, Macasaet 3, Pacquiao 2, Rabalo 0, Armisen 0.

Quarters: 12-11, 33-28, 56-41, 72-68