CEBUANA Lhuillier coach Luigi Trillo takes pride in their defense—anyone in his shoes would.

The Gems stared at five-point deficit and appeared in trouble with less than four minutes remaining in regulation. Then they turned to their defense and it worked wonders.

When it was all over, Cebuana Lhuillier had stunned PC Gilmore, 76-67, on Thursday in the Philippine Basketball Association Developmental League Aspirants Cup at the Adamson University Gym.

The Gems overhauled the deficit by forcing the Wizards to three consecutive turnovers that led to the game-clinching 12-0 run.

Jai Reyes atoned for his erratic third-quarter performance by scoring eight points, including two three-pointers in that run as Cebuana Lhuillier picked up its second-straight win and sixth overall in seven games to stay on top of the standings.

“Jai and Terrence [Romeo] are the smallest guys on the court pero sila ay may pusong leon. They made my job easy in the last five minutes,” Trillo said of his backcourt duo.

Vic Manuel showed the way for the Gems with 18 points and Romeo had 17. Reyes tallied 16 points that went with his four assists, four rebounds and three steals.

It was a frustrating loss for the Wizards, who appeared to have the game well under control when they built a 65-60 lead on a drive by Robby Celiz. But they couldn’t hang on and fell to 0-4.

Celiz scored 15 points and Jett Vidal contributed 11 for PC Gilmore, which went six-of-16 from the field and committed nine of its 20 turnovers in the fourth quarter.

It was a close game that featured seven deadlocks and 10 lead changes. Neither team led more than eight points until PC Gilmore broke apart in the closing minutes.

Cebuana Lhuillier held a 43-38 lead early in the third until the Gems’ shooting went sour allowing PC Gilmore to rally and took a 53-50 lead going into the fourth quarter.