Manuel, Alvarez tow Gems to second spot in PBA D-League

Vic Manuel and Lester Alvarez towed Cebuana Lhuillier to a 90-64 thrashing of Junior Powerade Tuesday as the Gems grabbed second spot in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City. Manuel scored 30 points while Alvarez drained four straight three-pointers in the third quarter for the Gems, who limited the Tigers to only one shot from beyond the arc. Cebuana improved to 6-2 and will have Erase Pantcenta as its final assignment on May 22. Cebuana enjoys a half-a-game lead against idle Big Chill (5-2) with the Gems needing a loss by the Superchargers to earn an outright semifinals berth. Cebuana Lhuillier coach Beaujing Acot said that the goal of the team coming into this game was to at least clinch a quarterfinal berth, which they did in defeating the Tigers. "Our immediate goal was to gain at least a spot in the quarterfinals. Hopefully, we can get a break since if we are tied with Big Chill, they will have the semis berth because we lost to them in the eliminations," said Acot. Alvarez finished the game with 15 points but the series of three-pointers he made hurt the Tigers more as the Gems grabbed a 59-52 lead at the end of the third. Manuel scored nine points in the final period to help the Gems pull away. Claude Cubo had 17 points for the Tigers, who dropped to 2-6 slipping further away from the playoff picture. — JVP, GMA News