Chélu pulls off upset win vs Go For Gold

CHRIS Bitoon starred as Chélu Bar & Grill stunned Go For Gold, 97-95, to gain a share of the lead in the 2018 Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League Foundation Cup on Tuesday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

Bitoon sizzled with a game-high 31 points, including the go-ahead triple that gave the Revellers a onepoint lead in the dying seconds en route to the huge win.

Chélu tied the erstwhile-unbeat-

standings with an identical 4-1 win-loss record.

“This win can boost our morale especially with us beating a top team. More or less, we know where we stand,” said Chélu head coach Stevenson Tiu, whose crew posted its third straight victory.

Jessie Collado tallied 20 points and seven rebounds while fellow veterans Jeff Viernes and Jason Melano chipped in 17 and 10 markers, respectively, on top of a combined 12 boards.

Gab Banal and Paul Desiderio led the Scratchers with 14 points each even as Matt Salem had 13 markers in their maiden loss.

Go For Gold was poised to protect its unbeaten slate when Desiderio drove for a layup to hand Charles Tiu’s squad an 80-70 lead at the 8:29 mark of the fourth quarter.

But Chélu fought back to force a thrilling end. Staring at a 93-95 deficit following Jerwin Gaco’s three-point play, Bitoon sank a dagger trey to hand the Revellers a slim 96-95 advantage with 15.5 seconds remaining.

Viernes split his free throws with count before Desiderio missed a po-

In the second game, Marinerong Pilipino-Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) snapped a two-

luck AMA Online Education, 103-80.

Javi Gomez De Liaño fired a career- best 27 points and Rob Manalang dropped 21 markers as the Skippers returned to the win column and improved to 3-3 at No. 4.

“I hope the players will respond to this win. We want to take this game as a momentum-builder,” said Marinero-TIP mentor Koy Banal.

Top draft pick Owen Graham had 17 points and nine rebounds while Ken Soriano had 16 markers for the cellar-dwelling Titans, who