JANUS Lozada made four 3-points shots and Big Chill dominated Blackwater Sports on Tuesday in Game Three of the semifinal series, 89-78, at The Arena in San Juan to set up a title showdown with NLEX in the PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup.
Game One of the best-of-three title series in set at 1 p.m. on Sunday at the Areneta Coliseum.
“Defense won it for us. Overall, it was a total team effort. Everybody contributed to accomplish our goal,” said Big Chill coach Robert Sison.
It will be the second Finals appearance for Sison and the Superchargers, who were swept by the Road Warriors in the 2011-12 Foundation Cup Finals.
“It will be a very tough mountain climb,” Sison said of their titular series with NLEX. “But nothing is impossible.”
Lozada led all scorers with 21 points, hitting 5 of 11 from the 3-point area. As a team, Big Chill made 11 of 35 attempts from downtown.
Big Chill also got big games from Reil Cervantes (18 points), Mark Canlas (15 points), Rodney Brondial (9 points, 7 rebounds) and guard Brian Heruela (9 assists, 10 rebounds).
It was tough loss for the Blackwater Sports, who took Game One, 84-72. But it didn’t have an answer to Big Chill’s pressing defense in the Games 2 and 3.
“I’ve learned my lesson. I tried to build a star-studded team to match-up with NLEX but it didn’t develop the chemistry to win for us the championship. What I have now is a bunch of players willing to sacrifice and play their roles to win. I’m proud with these guys,” Sison said.
The two teams battled through five deadlocks and six lead changes in the first half that ended with successive threes from Lozada to give the Big Chill a 41-33 lead at halftime.
The Elite never led again after that.
Jericho Cruz scored 21 points, Allan Mangahas added 16 and Pari Llagas had 12 for Blackwater Sports, which shot just 36 percent (26 of 72) from the field.
The scores:
Big Chill (89) – Lozada 21, Cervantes 18, Canlas 15, Brondial 9, Apinan 9, Maiquez 8, Beloria 3, Villahermosa 3, Mirza 0, Santos 0.
Blackwater Sports (78) – Cruz 21, A. Mangahas 16, Llagas 12, Bulawan 11, Ciriacruz 11, Ferrer 7, Manguera 0, Bagatsing 0, Pe 0, Austria 0.
Quarters: 20-18; 41-33; 66-56; 89-78.
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