PBA-DL: Cagayan dumps Cebuana Lhuillier, Cafe France thrash Informatics

The Cagayan Valley Rising Suns and the Cafe France Bakers dispatched separate foes Tuesday, at the JCSGO Gym in Pasig, to continue to work their way up the standings of the 2012-13 PBA Developmental League Aspirants Cup.

In the first game, 4-1 Cagayan Valley claimed solo third place in the standings by sending the Cebuana Lhuillier Gems below .500 to 2-3.

The Gems actually led, 63-60, headed into the final quarter, but the Rising Suns kicked things off with a 9-3 run, barely two minutes in, to go up by three, 69-66. The two sides would swap the lead several more times, with Cebuana getting back on top via an and-one play by Raymond Aguilar, 82-81.

With 1:23 left, Arellano Chief James Forrester hit the go-ahead jumper for Cagayan Valley, making it 83-82. Then on the next possession, Mark Bringas' defensive play on Aguilar led to a split at the line by Ping Exciminiano, for an 84-82 advantage.

Off their last timeout, the Gems went back to Aguilar. This time, he drew the foul, but missed both charities. Cebuana got a luck break however, as a referee review gave them back possession following the second free throw falling out of bounds. On the second go-around, Aguilar was unsuccessful again, as Bringas now forced a jump ball on him. Exciminiano, opportunistic as ever, came up with the possession and hit the dagger to arrive at the final score.

Exciminiano emerged as the top scorer anew, firing in 24 points in 28 minutes, in addition to seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. Forrester added 17 points despite missing all five of his three-pointers, while James Melano chimed in with 15 markers.

Raymond Aguilar top-scored for the Gems with 20 points, in addition to eight rebounds. Paul Zamar contributed 14, as the only other member of Cebuana Lhuillier to score in double figures.

The closely-fought game saw nine deadlocks and 15 lead changes, but the Rising Suns simply hustled for the ball more, scoring 27 points on the break and 20 off Cebuana miscues.

The second game was a more one-sided affair, with the Cafe France Bakers improving to 3-2, following a 78-66 beating of the winless Informatics Icons.

The Icons managed a one-point lead, 18-17, after the first quarter, but the Bakers' held them to just 10 points in the second period, to take a 34-28 edge into the halftime break.

Late in the third, Roser Mangahas canned a triple to tie things at 47-all, but Roger Pogoy had the last word for Cafe France, nailing a lay-up with two seconds left for a slim two-point lead, 49-47.

In the final quarter, the Bakers opted to show the Icons their offense, putting up 29 points, the only time in the game either team scored more than 19 markers, to put their foes away.

Center Mike Parala had 20 markers, missing just one of his 10 attempts from the field, and nine rebounds, to lead Cafe France. Gryann Mendoza scored 11, while Jens Knuttel quarterbacked the team with flair, scoring 10 and dishing out nine dimes.

Carl Bryan Cruz led all scorers with 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting. Roser Mangahas fired in 13 points, nine coming from downtown, while Marvin Hayes scored nine and hauled in 12 caroms.

The Icons were held to just 31 percent shooting from the field, while the Bakers waxed hot, hitting 54.1 percent of their attempts. Informatics did get a 28-to-9 edge in second chance points, but they couldn't convert enough of them for it to make a difference. - AMD, GMA News