Marinero halts Che’Lu Bar’s run; ‘Go’ prevails

MANILA, Philippines — Jorey Napoles and Robbie Manalang took charge in the fourth quarter as Marinerong Pilipino repulsed Che’Lu Bar and Grill, 91-83, to move to solo third in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig yesterday.

Napoles and Manalang combined for 11 unanswered points as the Engineers held off the Revellers’ charge and built a comfortable 85-69 lead halfway in the last period on their way to victory, their fourth against three losses.

The win came on the heels of Marinerong Pilipino-TIP’s 105-80 rout of AMA Online Education last week while halting Che’Lu Bar and Grill’s five-game run.

Despite the loss, the Revellers remained on top at 5-2, this time with the Go for Gold Scratchers, who checked a two game slide with a one-sided 135-91 victory over the AMA Titans. 

“The mindset coming into this game is we’ll respect whoever we’d face. It’s not about Che’Lu being the top team. What we talked about is being prepared everyday, day-in, day-out,” said Marinero coach Koy Banal.

Napoles finished with a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds.