Gems repel S Chargers, share lead

MANILA, Philippines - Cebuana Lhuillier blasted Big Chill with a big second half charge and came away with an 81-65 victory to gain a share of the lead with Freego Jeans in the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup at the FEU gym yesterday.

Vic Manuel scored a game-high 18 points and completed a double-double job with 15 rebounds as the Gems broke away from a tight first half by outscoring the Super Chargers, 26-14, in the third period.

Pari Llagas and Terrence Romeo added 14 points apiece while Mark Jeffries pulled down 10 rebounds as Cebuana Lhuillier tied Freego Jeans on top at 5-1.

“Our guards controlled the game and that’s the key in our system. We also did not lose our focus when the game became physical,” said Cebuana coach Luigi Trillo afterwards.

Charlkes Jensen scored 13 points to show the way for the Big Chill, which fell to 4-2.

Earlier, Chris Ellis scored 21 points as the NLEX Road Warriors blasted the Cobra Energy Drink side, 81-65, to improve to 2-1.

RR Garcia backed up Ellis with 10 points while Cliff Hodge added nine markers, nine rebounds and five assists for NLEX, which dropped an 83-85 loss to Big Chill last Thursday.

Josan Nimes hit 21 points and Jon Sumido added 15 markers for the Iron Men, who reeled to their sixth straight loss.

The Road Warriors outrebounded the Iron Men, 55-42, to offset their 23 turnovers that netted Cobra 25 points.