Reyes lifts Gems to 76-67 win over Wizards in Aspirants Cup

Jai Reyes led Cebuana Lhuillier’s spirited end-game rally as the Gems escaped with a 76-67 win over PC Gilmore Thursday in the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup at the Adamson gym. Reyes had 16 points including two three-pointers in the Gems’ 16-2 closing run in the final four minutes of the game that sealed Cebu’s sixth win in seven games to move closer of clinching one of the two outright semifinal berths. A Robbie Celiz lay-up gave PC Gilmore a 65-60 lead. Reyes’ first triple tied the count with one minute and 58 seconds left in the game. He then issued a pass to a driving Terrence Romeo for the marginal basket. Reyes then gave Cebuana Lhuillier some breathing space when he drained another triple with 56.1 seconds remaining, 70-65. “He’s (Reyes) a big time player. We were down by five but he made the game easy for me in the last five minutes of the game,” said Cebuana Lhuillier coach Luigi Trillo on the former Ateneo Blue Eagle. Reyes also had four rebounds, four assists and three steals to lead the come-from-behind win. Former Wizard Vic Manuel contributed 18 points and seven rebounds while Romeo had 17 markers for the Gems. It was a disappointing loss for PC Gilmore, which looked headed to take its first win but faltered down the stretch. A Romeo fastbreak lay-up gave the Gems a 43-38 third-quarter lead but the Wizards, behind Jet Vidal’s outside sniping, answered with 15-7 run to take a 53-50 spread entering the fourth. Celiz paced PC Gilmore with 15 points while Vidal added 11. — JVP, GMA News