D-League: Big Chill beats defending champ NLEX

The Big Chill Superchargers defeated the defending champions NLEX Road Warriors in a cat-and-mouse chase, 85-83, on Thursday at the Trinity University of Asia Gym.

D-League debutant Keith Jensen carried his team to a 4-1 win-loss record, while NLEX settles at 1-1.

NLEX played without the Pinatubo trio of Calvin Abueva, Ronald Pascual and Ian Sangalang who were playing for San Sebastian in the Philippine Collegiate Champions’ League. Garvo Lanete and Ford Arao also sat out the game due to shoulder and leg injuries respectively.

The Big Chill missed the service of shooter Alex Mallari. Mallari injured his left eye in a freak accident during practice and would be undergoing an operation on Monday to stitch his eye.

In the absence of Mallari, Jopher Custodio and Elliot Tan shone from rainbow country to give the Superchargers an early lead.

The Road Warriors bounced back in the game through Eric Suguitan’s back-to-back layups early in the second quarter.

Big Chill got in bigger trouble when their big man Jessie Collado was thrown out for two infractions of a flagrant foul. With two rebounders out, they had to rely on Jensen and Jewel Ponferrada.

Fil-Am Jensen took matters into his own hands by hitting a three and another buzzer-beating jumper to end the half in their favor, 52-50.

As soon as the third quarter opened, the Superchargers made an 11-0 run resulting in their biggest lead of 11, 63-52.

However, the Sinag boys stepped up for NLEX in the fourth quarter and kept it close until the end.

RR Garcia opened the final frame with four straight points. Dave Marcelo dominated the boards with a double-double of 14 point and 11 rebounds.

But in the final minute of the game, veteran point guard Raffy Reyes put the Superchargers back in the lead with a layup, 84-83.

With only 11 seconds left, Garcia missed a jumper that could have saved the Road Warriors. A faulty pass from Marcelo also forced a foul from NLEX. Reyes split his charities, finishing off at 85-83.

With the absence of Mallari, Jensen stepped up as the main man of the team, notching 21 points and eight rebounds.

“I feel like I’ve been caged up and now I’m finally being unleashed,” said Jensen who missed Big Chill’s first four assignments due to incomplete papers.- OMG, GMA News