Big Chill shakes off Fruitas, gains semis

MANILA, Philippines - Big Chill drew big games from Mar Villahermosa and Terrence Romeo as the Superchargers rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit and thwarted the twice-to-beat Fruitas Shakers, 89-83, in overtime to snatch the last semifinal berth in the PBA D-League at the Blue Eagle gym in Ateneo yesterday.

Villahermosa and Romeo hit successive triples in extra period, giving the Superchargers the needed push to get past the Shakers for the second straight time and arrange a Final Four showdown with top seed defending champion NLEX.

Big Chill defeated Fruitas, 77-72, last Tuesday to force the rubber match.

No. 2 Blackwater Sports and Boracay Rum dispute the other finals berth beginning Tuesday.

The Superchargers trailed by 13 points at the half but outscored the Shakers, 62-43, in the last two quarters before outsteadying their rivals in extra session.

Villahermosa capped Big Chill’s comeback with a triple to force overtime.

“I never thought we’ll win this game until Villahermosa made that 3. After that the momentum was on our side,” said Big Chill coach Robert Sison.

“Even when things looked bad, the guys never lost faith in the system. And Terrence (Romeo), in this game, learned how to share the ball. That’s a sign of maturity.”

After Jonathan Semira gave Fruitas a 78-77 lead in overtime, the Superchargers scored the next seven points with Villahermosa capping the spurt with his third triple as Big Chill surged ahead to stay with 2:41 remaining.

Fruitas pulled within 81-84 on a free throw and a jumper by Semira but Romeo knocked another trey to seal the win.

Romeo and Jeckster Apinan each scored 20 points for Big Chill. Apinan also had 14 rebounds to finish with a double-double for the second straight game.

The Shakers appeared to have the game in control when they outscored the Superchargers, 23-6, in the second quarter to take a 40-27 advantage at halftime.