MANILA, Philippines - Big Chill pounced on NLEX’s endgame miscue to snatch a shock 85-83 win while DUB Unlimited snapped a five-game skid by beating erstwhile unbeaten but exhausted Freego Jeans, 78-62, in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup at the Trinity University of Asia gym yesterday.
Charles Jensen scored 21 points while Raffy Reyes, Elliot Tan, Jerry Glorioso and Raymond Maconocido combined for 40 points for the Super Chargers, who cashed in on an errant pass by NLEX forward Dave Marcelo in the closing seconds to complete the victory.
“The players deserved this win. They worked hard and sacrificed a lot for this game. NLEX is a tough team and beating the champions was our motivation,” said Big Chill coach Arsenio Dysangco.
The win kept the Super Chargers in joint second with the Cebuana Lhuillier Gems at 4-1.
Down by one point with 11.9 seconds to play, NLEX had a chance to steal victory. After a time out, the Road Warriors went to Marcelo, who found Cliff Hodge wide open in the lane.
But his pass went too low for that crucial turnover.
It was a tough loss for NLEX, the Foundation’s Cup champions, which battled the Big Chill to 12 deadlocks and 17 turnovers despite the absence of Calvin Abueva, Ian Sanggalang and Roanld Pascual, who opted to play for their school team (San Sebastian College) in the PCCL.
The Wheelers, on the other hand, took control by scoring the last eight points of the second quarter for a 30-27 halftime lead and continued to dominate the Jeans Makers in the second half to nail their first win after losing their first four matches.
Marlon Gomez scored 19 points and Jake Pascual had 11 rebounds for DUB Unlimited, which shot 51 percent to Freego Jeans’ 35 percent.
The rigors of playing two games in a day took their toll on the Jeans Makers, the majority played for Adamson in the Philippine Collegiate Championship League early in the afternoon.
Roider Cabrera scored 12 points and Raymond Austria added 11 for Freego Jeans, who dropped to 1-5.