Revellers, Scratchers near D-League finals

MANILA, Philippines — Chris Bitoon and Jeff Viernes came through with clutch triples as Che’Lu Bar and Grill fended off Centro Escolar U’s late charge to carve out a 112-97 victory and move a win from booking a return trip to the finals in the PBA D-League Foundation Cup at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig yesterday.

Bitoon drilled in a trey to highlight his 14-point production in the fourth quarter then Viernes followed suit following a split as the Revellers, threatened last at 90-94, pulled away at 101-90, with 2:22 remaining at the start of their best-of-three series.

Viernes then fired eight more points as Che’Lu Bar and Grill, which led by as many as 20 points in the third period, stayed in control to the finish. The Revellers, runners-up last conference, look to wrap it up at 6 p.m. tomorrow at the same venue.

“Complacency has always been the problem with this team. I constantly remind the players about it. CEU was able to recover but good thing my players are more veteran,” said Che’Lu Bar and Grill coach Stevenson Tiu.

Viernes finished with 21 points in a solid backup to Levi Hernandez, who poured in 24 markers for the Revellers.

Go for Gold rallied from the ouster of coach Charles Tiu and fashioned out a 96-87 victory over Marinerong Pilipino-TIP in the other semifinal duel.

Matt Salem fired 24 points, including three triples, as he powered the Scratchers past the Engineers. He capped his superb all-around game with eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and two shot blocks.

Tiu was tossed out with 7:02 left in the contest for two technical fouls for continuous complaining.