PBA D-League: Blackwater edges Big Chill to shadow NLEX

Published April 12, 2012 6:16pm

Blackwater Sports pulled off an important win against one of the title contenders in the 2012 PBA D-League Foundation Cup beating Big Chill, 64-61, Thursday night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

The Elite were all over the court, making plays on both ends to erect a 19-point lead then thwarted the Superchargers' late surge to secure their fourth win in five games for solo second in the standings behind undefeated NLEX (4-0).

Kelly Nabong and AJ Mandani scored 12 points each while Paul Zamar and Clarke Bautista added 10 apiece for Blackwater Sports, which ended Big Chill's three-game winning run.

"It's a good psychological effect for us to get the win against Big Chill," said Blackwater coach Leo Isaac. "It's an eye-opener that we can match the league's best teams."

Blackwater's 10-0 run gave the Elite a 53-35 spread with one minute and 36 seconds left in the third quarter. Zamar opened Blackwater's scoring in the fourth period with a three-pointer for a 56-37 lead but Big Chill countered with a dizzying 24-6 run as Mar Villahermosa's lay-up moved the Superchargers within one, 62-61, 1:17 left in the game.

However, the Elite survived as the Superchargers failed to score after that. Raffy Reyes grabbed Villahermosa's missed jumper but the Big Chill guard lost ball possession. Mandani made two free throws on the other end to hike Blackwater's lead to three with 3.6 seconds remaining.

Villahermosa was able to fire a three-point attempt but he missed the shot to end the contest.

In the first game, the Cebuana Lhuillier Gems bounced back from their first loss of the conference with an 82-55 mauling of hapless Cagayan Rising Suns.

The Gems improved to 3-1 after suffering a 68-52 loss to Big Chill last April 2.

Cebuana placed third place following Blackwater's victory while Big Chill is in fourth with 3-2.

"We treated Cagayan with respect since they played well against Junior Powerade in their last game," said Gems coach Luigi Trillo. — JVP, GMA News Scores:

First Game

Cebuana Lhuillier 82—Almazan 12, Llagas 11, Manuel 11, Lozada 10, Celeda 9, Alvarez 9, Exciminiano 8, Apinan 4, Maconocido 3, Atkins 2, Austria 2, Hayes 1.

Cagayan Rising Suns 55—Custodio 20, Macuha 10, Agas 6, Castro 5, Melano 4, Malig-on 3, Arce 3, Bagares 2, Tagarda 2, Chiu 0, Lascano 0, Aggarao 0, Galinato 0.

Quarter scores: 24-9, 43-23, 60-37, 82-55.

Second game

Blackwater Sports 64—Nabong 12, Mandani 12, Zamar 10, Bautista 10, G. Ciriacruz 9, Pascual 6, Celiz 5, Fortuna 0, I. Ciriacruz 0, Camus 0.

Big Chill 61—Jensen 17, Ponferrada 10, Tan 10, Villahermosa 7, Mallari 6, Montilla 4, Santos 3, Collado 2, Reyes 2, Viernes 0, Glorioso 0.

Quarter scores: 21-14, 39-28, 53-37, 64-61.

Tags: pbadleagueseason, pbadleagueoundationcup, pbadleague, blackwatersportselite, bigchillsuperchargers