Martinez sizzles as Gems imperil Rising Suns bid

MANILA, Philippines - James Martinez fired 20 points as Cebuana Lhuillier snapped a two-game skid with a 76-68 victory over Cagayan Valley yesterday in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup at the Trinity University of Asia gym.

It was just the fifth win in 11 games for the Gems, who were already out of the playoff race.

“We may be out of the playoff picture but our remaining games still mean a lot to my players. Most of them are collegiate players who still need to learn the value of work and essence of playing the game,” said Cebuana coach Boyzie Zamar.

“For most of our games I thought we didn’t play with a sense of urgency. But today, the spunk is there. Hope we could keep this level of play in our remaining games.”

In the other game, Hog’s Breath Café outplayed Blackwater Sports in the stretch for a 73-63 victory.

Kevin Racal banged in 14 points while Jamil Gabawsan and Philip Paniamogan shot 10 apiece for the Razorbacks, who improved to 9-3 and secured a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals. As things stand now, they are also in contention for an outright semifinal seat.

Hog’s Breath faced as 57-61 deficit with 4:10 remaining but turned the game around by closing the fourth with a 16-2 run.

Jericho Cruz and Allan Mangahas pumped in 14 and 13, respectively, for the Elite, who fell to 6-5 and found themselves in danger of missing the playoff.

The Gems scored the first six points of the game and never trailed the rest of the way. Still, they needed a pair of threes from Martinez in the third quarter to fend off the charging Rising Suns.

Cebuana Lhuillier held a 41-30 lead early in the third but the Rising Suns unleashed a 10-0 run with Dion Trollano and Phil Mercader knocking successive treys to pull to within two.

But the Gems quickly regrouped and closed the period with a 14-3 salvo for a 59-46 advantage entering the fourth. Martinez poured eight points in that exchange.

The loss hurt the Rising Suns’ bid for a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.

The game turned ugly late in the third when Cagayan’s Jessie Collado was whistled for flagrant foul category 1 for hitting Cebuana center Philip Paredes in the head. Out of frustration, coach Alvin Pua tossed the team’s bag of balls onto the court, netting him a T.

Trollano finished with 17 markers and Mark Bringas had 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Rising Suns.