Elite, Bakers win

by Christian Jacinto

Games Today (JCSGO Gym, Quezon City)
10 a.m. – Cebuana Lhuillier vs NLEX
12 noon – Big Chill vs Jumbo Plastic

Manila, Philippines – Bull-strong Reil Cervantes was hitting shots left and right all throughout the game but none bigger than his final basket.

The former Far Eastern University standout scored off an alley-oop play with 0.3 second remaining as defending champion Blackwater Sports hacked out a 96-94 overtime victory over Boracay Rum in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup yesterday at the JCSGO gym in Cubao.

The Elite were on the brink of suffering another defeat when they squandered a six-point lead in regulation and fell behind 94-92 with less than a minute left in the extra period when Cervantes took charge.

Cervantes tied the game at 94-all with 35 seconds left in overtime, then Blackwater gained a much-needed opportunity after Boracay Rum’s Prince Caperal threw an errant pass off the inbound with 1.4 ticks to go.

Kevin Ferrer made a perfectly-executed inbound pass for Cervantes, who broke loose from his defender to score the go-ahead basket that sent the Blackwater bench into a frenzy.

In the second game, seldom-used guard Aaron Jeruta scored the go-ahead basket with 26 seconds left as CaféFrance snapped a four-game losing skid with a 70-66 victory over Cagayan Valley.

Jeruta beat the shot clock buzzer to make it 67-66. The Bakers preserved the lead in the final seconds to move to fifth place with a 3-4 record.

In the third match, Derulo Accelero stunned Hog’s Breath Café, 82-78.