Games on Tuesday
(The Arena)
3 p.m. – Cebuana Lhuillier vs NLEX
Cebuana Lhuillier got significant contributions from just about
everybody and toppled the overmatched PC Gilmore Wizards, 83-55, in
their knockout semi-final duel Thursday that sent the Gems into the
championship series of the PBA D-League Foundation Cup at the Ynares
Sports Arena in Pasig City.
The Gems got their game going early and pulled away in the third
quarter as Kevin Alas and James Sena took over the scoring and
frustrated their rivals.
Narciso Llagas was the most consistent scorer among the Gems, going 9
of 10 from the field and finishing with a game-high 19 points that
went with his 10 rebounds for a double-double.
The Gems, the Group B top seed, also got outstanding efforts from
James Sena (11 points) and Ariel Mepana, who did a good job in taking
away the games of the Wizards’ big men.
They will need a lot of it in the finals.
The NLEX Road Warriors put on a dominating performance in the other
semi-final to smother Max! Bond Super Glue, 74-61, and arrange a title
duel with Cebuana Lhuillier.
Game 1 of the best-of-three series will start on Tuesday at The Arena
in San Juan.
The Road Warriors’ intention of securing their place in the
championship series was never in doubt.
They displayed their A-1 game. They got their offensive rhythm early.
And they punished the Sumos off the boards.
Their spectacular performance effectively put the Road Warriors in
total control by halftime, 43-25.
“Three-fourths of our job is done. Now, we have to prepare for Cebuana
Lhuillier. I think it will be tough series,” said NLEX coach Boyet
Fernandez.
Calvin Abueva scored 19 points, Ronald Pascual had 14 and Eric Salamat
added 11 for the Road Warriors, who outshot and outrebounded their
rivals before slowing down a bit in the fourth.
“I thought we rotated well and did a good job on defense,” said
Cebuana Lhuillier coach Luigi Trillo.
He admitted that PC Gilmore was not as deep as his team but cited the
Wizards downfall to their poor shooting. The Gems enjoyed their
biggest lead at 81-53 on Llagas’ basket with 2:50 remaining in the
game.
“I think their shooters – Carlo Lastimosa, Jett Vidal and Allan
Mangahas – got a lot of good looks. They just didn’t fall.”
As a team, the Gems shot 53 percent (31 of 59). They also dominated
the boards, 50-32, and were unselfish with their 25 assists.
In a game that mattered most, the Wizards played their worst. They
were slow on defense, they allowed themselves to be pushed around and
to make matters even worse, PC Gilmore made just 31 percent (19 of 61)
of its attempts.
The most significant threat encountered by the Gems came in the second
quarter when Vidal (8 points) layup to pull the Wizard within 24-26
with 3:59 left in the period.
But Cebuana Lhuillier quickly responded with 14-3 run to close the
quarter and led 38-29 at the half. Llagas and Allein Maliksi each
scored five points in that spurt and PC Gilmore never got closer then
eight points the rest of the way.
“It’s a humbling experience. It’s nice to be in the finals. But
there’s still job to be done. We can’t underachieve and be happy on
advancing to the finals,” Trillo said.
Jam Cortes and Eric Agas each scored 13 points for PC Gilmore.
Lastimosa, usually among the Wizards’ top scorers, managed just 9
points on 3 of 10 shooting and Mangahas, another marksman, turned in 5
points on 2 of 9 clip.
The scores:
First Game
Cebuana Lhuillier 83 --Llagas 19, Maliksi 13, Sena 11, Alas 9, Elinon
7, Fernandez 6, Mepana 6, Canta 6, Mandani 2, Hayes 2, Lee 2,
Bagatsing 0, Semira 0.
PC Gilmore 55 – Agas 13, Cortes 13, Lastimosa 9, Vidal 8, Mangahas 5,
Acosta 4, Parala 2, Dysum 1, Magbanua 0, Sarangay 0, Sorongon 0, Sinco
0, McCoy 0, Almasan 0.
Quarters: 17-14; 38-29; 65-48; 83-55.
Second Game
NLEX 74 – Abueva 19, Pascual 14, Salamat 11, Hodge 7, Co 7, Taganas 5,
Menor 4, Ellis 4, Sanggalang 3, Belencion 0, Raymundo 0.
Max! Bond Super Glue 61 – Cervantes 16, Cabatu 12, Lingganay 10,
Bautista 6, Navarro 5, Teng 4, Hugnatan 4, Fortuna 2, Benites 2, Cuan
0, Camus 0, Afuang 0.
Quarters: 25-14; 43-25; 65-38; 74-61.PR
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