Cebuana Gems repulse Boracay 5 for solo lead

MANILA, Philippines - Vic Manuel scored 12 of his 19 points in the third quarter as Cebuana Lhuillier smothered Boracay Rum, 76-63, to wrest the solo lead and close in on an outright semifinal berth in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup at the San Juan gym yesterday.

It was the Gems’ fourth straight win and seventh in eight games overall as they got past the Freego Jeans Makers, who dropped to second with a 6-1 mark.

The Gems actually trailed, 29-33, at halftime but outscored the Waves, 30-15, in the third as Manuel took over.

“We were out-rebounded in the first half but we settled in the second half allowing us to control the game and dominate the offensive board and get down on defense quickly,” Cebuana Lhuillier coach Luigi Trillo said.

But he opted to downplay the team’s Final Four chances.

“We still have to take care of business (against Café France on Thursday) then see what happens in our game against NLEX on Jan. 12,” he said.

Terrence Romeo scored 24 points to lead the Gems while Jai Reyes tallied double-double figures with 14 points and 10 assists.

Fadzmir Bandaying shot 15 points to show the way for Boracay Rum, which fell to 4-4.

Earlier, Macky Acosta scored eight points and pulled down 11 rebounds in the fourth quarter as PC Gilmore rallied from 18 points down to beat Cafe France, 82-80, for their first win.

Acosta finished with a team-high 15 points, 12 rebounds, one steal and one shot block as the Wizards finally broke into the win column after losing their first five games.

It was a sorry loss for the Bakers, who led by as many as 68-50 late in the third quarter but blew it in the closing minutes mainly due to overconfidence and poor shooting.

The Wizards still trailed 66-80 with five minutes remaining when Acosta, Jett Vidal and Eugene Torres combined in a stirring 16-0 run to close out the fourth quarter and cap their fightback.

Vidal scored 14 points while Mark Cagoco added 13 for the Wizards, who outscored the Bakers, 29-10, and dominated the boards, 17-13, in the fourth.

Jeff Viernes led all scorers with 30 points that went with his nine rebounds and eight assists for Café France, which slid to 2-4.