Ilad’s last-second basket lifts Gems over Bakers

Brian Ilad FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Brian Ilad scored the go-ahead basket with a second left and Cebuana Lhuillier edged Cafe France 77-76 in the 2014 PBA D-League Foundation Cup Monday at the JCSGO Gym in Cubao.

The Gems improved to 4-1 good for second place behind the unbeaten NLEX Road Warriors but had to grind it out and get a little bit of luck in the end game.

Down 75-76, Cebuana Lhuillier guard Marcy Arellano missed two free throws with 9.6 ticks left but Cafe France failed to secure the defensive rebound and after a mad scramble for the loose ball, the leather ended up in the hands of James Martinez, who found his teammate Ilad close to the basket.

Ilad’s attempt got blocked by Bakers center Aristotle Mutombo but he rebounded his own miss and scored on a reserve layup.

“A win is a win. We’re just glad the players didn’t give even when things didn’t look good,” said Cebuana Lhuillier assistant coach Bay Cristobal. “We started flat and worse, we missed 22 free throws.”

Bambam Gamalinda topscored with 23 points for the Gems, who fought back from 13 points down.

Rodrigue Ebondo registered a double-double with 17 points and 18 rebounds for the Bakers, who dropped into a tie with the Cagayan Valley Rising Suns in fifth place at 2-3, but he fouled out with still over a minute left.

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