Cebuana, NLEX forge title clash

MANILA, Philippines - Cebuana Lhuillier turned on the heat in the third quarter and went on to blast PC Gilmore, 83-55, in their knockout semifinal duel yesterday and gain a crack at the crown in the inaugural 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 pivotal third with Kevin Alas and James Sena leading the attack and the rest neutralizing the Wizards’ top gunners with their stingy defense to fashion out the rout.

Narciso Llagas hit nine of 10 from the field and top-scored for the Gems with 19 points. He also grabbed 10 rebounds to complete a double-double performance.

The NLEX Road Warriors put on a dominating performance to smother Max! Bond Super Glue, 74-61, in the other semis duel and arrange a title duel with the Gems.

Game 1 of the best-of-three series will start on Tuesday at The Arena in San Juan.

The Road Warriors outclassed the Sumos early on and led by 18 points, 43-25, at halftime.

“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.

The Gems also drew big games from Sena, who scored 11 points, and Ariel Mepana, who defused the Wizards’ big men inside the paint.

“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 contest.

“I think their shooters – Carlo Lastimosa, Jett Vidal and Allan Mangahas – got a lot of good looks. They just didn’t fall.”

The Gems shot 53 percent (31 of 59) and dominated the boards, 50-32 while coming up with 25 assists.

In contrast, the PC Gilmore made just 19 of 61 of its attempts for a 31 percent clip.

Vidal’s layup pulled the Wizard within 24-26 with 3:59 left in the second period. But Cebuana countered with 14-3 run to close the half at 38-29.

The Gems then outscored the Wizards, 27-19, in the third then cruised to victory in the fourth.

“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, struggled for just nine points on 3 of 10 shooting and Mangahas, another marksman, made just five points on 2 of 9 clip.