Chargers crush Erasers, boost bid for semis seat

MANILA, Philippines - Big Chill routed Erase Plantcenta, 106-69, to tie Cebuana Lhuillier at second and bolster its drive for an outright semifinal berth in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City yesterday.

The Super Chargers imposed their will early and stormed to double-digit leads in the second quarter before pouring it all in the second half to win pulling away.

It was Big Chill’s sixth win in eight games to catch up with Cebuana Lhuillier although the Super Chargers will clinch the second outright semis berth if they still end up tied at the end of the elims via the winner-over-the-other rule. Big Chill beat Cebuana, 68-52, in their only faceoff this conference.

Defending champion NLEX has secured the first semis seat with an 8-0 card.

“We really needed this win. We didn’t think that we were coming off a long layoff. In fact, we were so excited to go for a win,” said coach Robert Sison, whose wards came off a two-week layoff.

Six Big Chill players, who combined for 11 triples and 52 percent shooting from the field, scored at least 12 points to underscore the team’s balanced offensive sock. The Super Chargers led by as many as 44 points, 104-60, with 2:26 left in the game.

Jessie Collado hit 16 points, Mac Montilla had 15 points, Jeff Viernes and Raffy Reyes scored 14 apiece and Kieth Jensen and Jewel Ponferada made 12 points each for Big Chill. 

Jam Cortes hauled down 14 rebounds for the Super Chargers, who dominated the boards, 56-37, and dished off 25 assists as against Erase Plantcenta’s 10.

Jet Vidal scored 13 points while June Dizon added 10 markers for Erase Plantcenta, which dropped to 3-5 in a tie with Boracay Rum and Cafe France.

Earlier, Jaymo Eguilos hit a jumper with five seconds remaining as Boracay Rum snatched a 77-75 win over Café France.

The Waves blew a10-point lead late in the game but kept their poise to snap a two-game skid.

Toto Bandaying scored nine of the team’s 18 points in the fourth quarter as the Waves squeezed through for their third win in eight games.

Bandaying buried a triple at the start of the fourth to fuel a 14-4 run that gave the Waves a 70-63 lead with 3:52 left in the period.

But Café France, behind Jonathan Semira, struck back to within 73-75 before Jason Deutchman sank a jumper with 10 seconds left to tie it.