Hog’s Breath, Big Chill fuel semifinal drives

Games today (Blue Eagle Gym)

12 noon – Cagayan Valley vs Big Chill

2 p.m. – Café France vs Wangs Basketball

4 p.m. – Hog’s Breath Café vs Jumbo Plastic

MANILA, Philippines - Unbeaten Hog’s Breath Café shook off a sloppy first quarter stint and rolled past Derulo Accelero, 86-72, to stretch its win run to seven while Big Chill held off Arellano, 70-63, as they stayed on track for outright semifinal berths in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup at the Blue Eagle Gym. 

Philip Paniamogan scored 24 points, including four triples, and Kevin Racal added 20 markers for the Razorbacks, who dominated the game right from the start despite going 4 of 20 from the field in the first 10 minutes for their lowest production in a quarter this conference.

But they settled down in the second quarter, built a 12-point bulge at the turn and went 20 points up, 60-40, before cruising to victory.

The Oilers dropped to 1-8.

“We shot poorly in the first quarter because we had a last minute change in our starting five. But the good thing about the players is that they never lost their focus on defense,” said Hog’s Breath coach Caloy Garcia.

Regular starters Francis Allera is out with a foot injury while guard Ali Austria is sidelined by flu.

Earlier, Quinton Heruela fell one rebound short of a triple double but Big Chill succeeded in thwarting Arellano to improve to 7-1.

The 5-10 Heruela finished with 13 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in a stellar performance but the Superchargers needed a late burst in the closing minutes to put away the upset conscious Chiefs, who fell to 1-7.

“We had a good run in the first quarter but we somehow lost our momentum when our second unit came in. Arellano capitalized on it, kept the game close and gained some confidence. But I thought we did a good job closing out the game,” said Big Chill coach Robert Sison.

The Superchargers also got big games from Reil Cervantes (20 points), Janus Lozada (18 points) and Jeckster Apinan (10 points, 11 rebounds) as they bounced back from an 88-97 loss to NLEX last week.

The scores:

First Game

Big Chill 70 – Cervantes 20, Lozada 18, Heruela 13, Apinan 10, Brondial 6, Maiquez 3, Baloria 0, Mirza 0, Canlas 0, Villahrmosa 0, Santos 0.

Arellano U 63 – Webb 15, Serjue 10, Jalalon 7, Acidre 7, Fran 6, Bangga 6, Tayongtong 5, Palma 4, Arquero 3, Bartolo 0, Ciriacruz 0.

Quarterscores: 20-11; 29-27; 50-49; 70-63

Second Game

Hog’s Breath Café 86 – Paniamogan 24, Racal 20, Sanga 10, Ruaya 9, Robles 7, Balerio 4, Terso 4, Gabawatan 3, Macasaet 3, Rios 2, Bartolo 0.

Derulo Accelero 72 – Soyud 24, Corpuz 18, Bautista 10, Dilay 6, Roncal 5, Jeffries 5, Importante 3, Manuel 1, Wierzba 0, Bonifacio 0, Wong 0, Gingerich 0.

Quarterscores: 9-6; 34-22; 60-40; 86-72