Big Chill secures twice-to-beat advantage

THE BIG CHILL Super Chargers secured a twice-to-beat advantage in the playoffs of the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup after they sneaked past the Blackwater Elite, 58-55, thanks to a crucial basket by Jesse Collado during their thrilling match yesterday at the San Juan gym.

The Super Chargers have not played since their 96-83 victory against PC Gilmore on Dec.9 and the long break visibly affected their game. They struggled with their shots and were sloppy on defense.

Big Chill played without starting guard Raffy Reyes (sore eyes), reserve center Jeff Morillo (groin injury) and forward Raffy Mangahas (broken nose) and had to grind it out in the crunch to finish the eliminations with a 6-3 (win-loss) mark and the no.4 seeding.

Big Chill center Jewel Ponferada had a double-double effort with 13 points on 5 of 7 shooting and had 10 rebounds. Alex Mallari struggled with his shooting (0 of 7) but pulled down 11 rebounds while Keith Jensen and Michael Galinato combined for 16 boards as the Super Chargers outrebounded the Elite, 55-43.

It was the sixth straight loss for Blackwater but it remained in the hunt for a quarterfinal berth after PBA Chito Salud nullified Cobra Energy Drink’s 72-63 win against the Elite on Monday. The Iron Men forfeited the game for fielding an ineligible player.

With a 4-5 record, the Elite are hard-pressed to win against RnW Pacific (4-5) on Tuesday to advance to the next round. Correspondent Jonas Panerio