Cokaliong turns back the clock, leads CECABA All-Stars to historic crown

CEBU, Philippines —  At 65, Chester Cokaliong continues to defy age. He still has the same sharp shooting touch and scoring prowess that have made

him a deadly marksman on the hardcourt.

Cokaliong turned back the clock in spectacular fashion, drilling in 17 3-pointers of his scintillating 51-point performance as the Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association (CECABA) All-Stars swept Toyota Mandaue North in their best-of-three finals with a decisive 131-93 Game 2 victory to emerge as the inaugural champions of the Edgar Cokaliong Memorial Cup Basketball Tournament last Monday, October 12, at the Don Edgar Stadium of Cokaliong Tower.

The CECABA stars completed their campaign undefeated at 9-0 to grab the historic crown of the six-week cage wars sponsored by Shell Pilipinas Corporation.

The esteemed Cebuano sportsman and shipping magnate came out firing, hitting five triples in the opening quarter to power the Easternians to a 37-22 lead.

Dean Dy Teves, Joseph James Yu, Marven Bauya and BJ Zosa joined the scoring spree as CECABA stretched its advantage to 68-47 at halftime.

Cokaliong remained unstoppable after the break, knocking down eight treys in the third quarter before adding four more in the fourth to seal the 38-point rout.

Cokaliong also drew solid support from Dy Teves, who finished with 24 points, and Paul Martin Gabatan, who poured in 12 of his 19 points in the first quarter.

JJ Yu added 11 points, while Mark Eugene Bukiron chipped in 10 to underscore CECABA’s balanced offensive attack.

Under the guidance of coach Giovanni Romarate Teves, the other members of the championship team are Joel Chan, Richard Yu,Mark Ryan Babor,Jesse Magno, Harold James Tan and Karl Tiu. 

JP Batac paced Toyota Mandaue with 33 points. Marlon Lao scored 16, James Lan and Ken Estenzo posted 15 points apiece, while Rodney Co contributed 13 in a losing effort.