Gems sparkle without Mitchell

With Mat Mitchell around, Cebuana Lhuillier is a tough team to beat. Without him, the Gems are no different.

This the Mitchell-less Cebuana Lhuillier squad proved when it turned back Nueva Ecija, 94-87, yesterday to gain a share of third place with Negros in the first phase of the 2001 MBA season at the Araullo Centrum Gym in Cabanatuan City.

Peter Naron stepped up in the absence of Mitchell and fired 18 points, but it was the 6-foot-6 Homer Se who delivered the goods for the Gems at crunchtime.

Mitchell, the team’s top gunner, left for the United States to attend to family matters.

Se scored five straight points in a big Cebu run in the homestretch that stretched the Gems' shaky 79-78 lead to 84-78. The Gems hung on to notch their ninth win in 14 games.

"We were able to win despite Mitchell’s absence because everybody stepped up. We wanted to prove that we can win ballgames even without our No. 1 player," said Naron in Filipino.

Though sluggish after missing the Gems’ first 12 games due to an ACL injury, the comebacking Max Delantes made a good account of himself as he went for loose balls, grabbed rebounds and dished out assists while holding his own in defense.

After keeping abreast with the Gems in the first three quarters, the Patriots, who also played without an injured Dave Bautista, took command, 77-76, on an Andy de Guzman jumper but Melvin Taguines struck back to give Cebuana Lhuillier back the lead, 78-77.

A split by De Guzman tied the count at 78 before Se took over to steer the team to victory while dealing the Patriots their ninth setback against two wins.

Over in Davao, the FedEx Laguna Lakers beat the Eagles, 111-107, to clinch the fifth and last berth in the next round at the Rizal Memorial College gym.

Meanwhile, MBA commissioner Ogie Narvasa slapped another P6,000 fine on three cagers for their unsportsmanlike conduct last week.

Ryan Bernardo of Davao, Junel Mendiola of FedEx Laguna and former PBA player Al Solis were slapped P2,000 fine each for various offenses ranging from throwing invectives at game officials to throwing an elbow on opposing defenders.