Underdogs shock foes

THE FIRST DAY of action in the PBA D-League semifinals brought a pair of upsets as the lower-seeded squads took out the favored ones yesterday at the San Juan Arena.

Roider Cabrera sank a three-pointer as time expired to lift the Freego Jeans to a 56-54 win over the Cebuana Lhuillier Gems. Even more shocking was the result of the second match, an 83-66 rout of the Big Chill over the reigning champions NLEX Road Warriors.

Cabrera, who came off the bench with six seconds remaining, received a pass from Lester Alvarez, pumped fake against Pari Llagas before taking the shot that save the day for the Jeans Makers.

Alvarez scored 16 points and Eric Camson had 11 and nine rebounds for the Jean Makers, who blew a 14-points second quarter lead.

Cebuana Lhuillier, which played catch up for three quarters, took a 56-54 lead with 11.6 seconds remaining on successive three-point shots by Terrence Romeo.

The Gems had a chance to seal the victory when Alvarez fumbled in Freego Jeans’ next possession. But Kevin Alas blew it with an errant inbound pass to Vic Manual that sailed high and out of bounds.

Cebuana Lhuilliers’s 23rd turnover of the day gave the Jeans Makers a new lease on life and paved the way for Cabrera’s shot.

Big Chill also capitalized on NLEX’s poor shooting in the middle quarters. The Super Chargers led 23-21 after one quarter but outscored the Road Warriors, 47-21, in the next two periods./Correspondent Jonas Panerio