PBA-DL: Big Chill slams the door on Cafe France, Fruitas dries out Boracay Rum

The Big Chill Superchargers and the Fruitas Shakers eliminated their respective foes from postseason contention in the 2012-13 PBA D-League Aspirants Cup, Tuesday at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

In the first game, Big Chill led by as much as 21 points in the first half, but needed a display of grit in the end to hold off an inspired Cafe France Bakers rally and wind up with a final score of 76-71.

The Superchargers rode an 11-3 run over the first and second quarters to establish a 31-12 lead, which they later extended to 46-25, for their largest advantage of the game, prior to the halftime break.

However, complacency must have kicked in for Big Chill, as Cafe France began to rally in the third. A deuce by Gryann Mendoza with less than a minute in the period made it a single-digit game, 62-53, but freebies by Mark Canlas restored the Superchargers' buffer, 64-53 with a quarter remaining.

The early moments of the fourth period though saw Cafe France make one last big push, scoring eight versus just a split at the line by Arvie Bringas to get within four, 65-61, 6:24 remaining. Five straight by Bringas and Jesse Collado had it back at nine for Big Chill, 72-63, with four and a half minutes to play, and from that point on, the Bakers saw each of their scores matched by their opponents. Roger Pogoy managed to make it a five-point affair, 74-69 with under a minute to go, but Ryan Buenafe put the game away at the stripe.

Buenafe, a former UAAP Finals MVP, scored 14, nine on three-pointers, and added eight rebounds and two assists for Big Chill. Mar Villahermosa also dropped 14 markers, while Arvie Bringas chimed in with nine points and seven boards.

Jan Jamon provided a game-high 16 points on 5-of-15 shooting, while Mark Lopez padded the stats sheet to the tune of 13 points, seven rebounds, two assists and a block. Center Mike Parala had a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds, but their early deficit proved to be too much for Cafe France to extract themselves out of, as they were held to just 32.9 percent shooting.


Game two saw the Fruitas Shakers finally snap the late-season charge of the Boracay Rum Waves, ending their four-game win streak with a 73-61 drubbing.

The Waves actually were poised to end the elimination round with five victories, following a 0-5 start, entering the final quarter up 51-47, but things didn't turn out quite how they expected, as their offense suddenly went out the window.

On the other end of the floor, Pong Escobal found his range, exploding for 20 of his side's 26 fourth quarter points, while the Waves struggled to connect from the field. All-in-all, Boracay Rum managed just 10 markers in the last 10 minutes, which proved to be sufficient for their foes to pick up the "W."

Escobal led all scorers in this one with 22 points, thanks in part to a crisp 10-for-10 effort from the foul line. Jan Colina added a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Carlo Lastimosa was limited to just nine markers.

Maclean Sabellina had 14 points and 11 rebounds to pace Boracay Rum, while Roider Cabrera and Stephen Siruma managed 10 and nine points, respectively.

Big Chill finished the elimination round with a 6-4 record, while the Fruitas Shakers wrapped things up at 5-5. Both teams though could find themselves involved in ties with other squads and so will observe the proceedings of the final eliminate round games with bated breath. - AMD, GMA News


The scores:

Game one:

Big Chill 76 — Buenafe 14, Villahermosa 11, Bringas 9, Canlas 8, Montilla 7, Brondial 6, Collda 6, Semira 5, Lozada 3, Santos 2, Nuyles 2, Holstein 0

Cafe France 71 — Jamon 16, Lopez 13, Parala 11, Pogoy 10, Batino 6, Gallardo 5, Dela Cruz 5, Knuttel 3, Mendoza 2, Saitanan 0, Magbitang 0, Antipuesto 0

Quarter scoring: 21-12, 47-28, 64-53, 76-71

Game two:

Fruitas 73 — Escobal 22, Colina 13, Lastimosa 9, Dela Rosa 7, Caram 4, Silungan 4, Terso 4, Antonio 4, Mendoza 2, Belleza 2, Escueta 2, Pascual 0

Boracay Rum 61 — Sabellina 14, Cabrera 10, Siruma 9, Eguilos 8, Viernes 7, Ilagan 6, Arellano 3, Monteclaro 2, Taha 2, Acibar 0, Bandaying 0

Quarter scoring: 13-19, 33-29, 47-51, 73-61.