Mighty Jercules lifts M. Lhuillier

For almost 40 minutes of epic battle, the Cebuano hoop buffs kept on holding their breath as they witnessed Cebu's longest basketball empire about to collapse.

But Jercules Tangkay did not let that happen.

Living up to the name of the mighty Greek hero Hercules famed for his extraordinary strength, Tangkay also fought with exceptional courage in powering M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala to a spine-chilling 94-86 win over Montaña Pawnshop in their knockout finals to seize the Mayor Tom Osmeña National Invitational Basketball Tournament title last night at the Cebu Coliseum.

Tangkay finished with a game-high tying 24 points punctuated by a booming 3-pointer in the final 34 seconds of play that sealed M. Lhuillier's third consecutive championship of the year. The Jewelers topped invitational tournaments in Sogod, Southern Leyte and in Valencia City, Bukidnon a few months ago.

"I'm a bit inspired because this is my comeback from a knee injury," said Tangkay, who game-long heroics made him the thumbs up favorite to bag the MVP honors.

"I did not expect to make that shot. I just throw it away because time was running out and I'm very happy the ball went in," added Tangkay.

Although vanquished, the Montaña Jewels deserved a hearty pat on their backs for putting up one heck of a fight, so valiant and brave that M. Lhuillier coach Raul "Yayoy" Alcoseba nearly ran out of tricks to get rid of the gritty visitors.

The Davao City-based cagers flustered the Jewelers with their aggressiveness and explosive outside shooting for most part of the game only to wilt under M. Lhuillier's porous defense and heavy heart in the closing seconds.

Montaña Pawnshop enjoyed its last taste of the lead at 83-81 as James Laygo drilled in a triple to put M. Lhuillier in front, 84-83, at the final 4:56 mark of the contest.

That proved to be a spark plug for the Jewelers as after Bong Marata split his charities, Tangkay scored on putback in a 6-0 swing that upped their lead to four, 87-83.

Still, the Jewelers couldn't heave a sigh of relief as Art Atablanco, who figured in a 3-point shootout with Laygo in the second quarter, knocked in a trey to pull Montaña Pawnshop within 86-87 entering the final two-minute zone.

In the ensuing play, however, diminutive playmaker Woodrow Enriquez once again plaed big by converting a difficult layup to make it 89-86 for the Jewelers.

A passing error by Montaña Jewels opened the door to M. Lhuillier's triumph wider and Tangkay did not let his teammates down as he flicked a leaning 3-pointer with time winding down in their shotclock.

The ball arched perfectly before it gently swished through the tim, causing the entire M. Lhuillier bench and their loyal fans to float in cloud nine in that particular moment. Laygo later sank two free throws with only 14.3 seconds left to put icing on M. Lhuillier's victory cake.

"Montaña Pawnshop is a very strong team. They've been there for years. They have very good shooters and the team work is there. I'm just very thankful we won at the endgame," said Alcoseba.

Laygo, Tangkay's teammate with the Southwestern University Cobras during their collegiate days, chipped in 21 points. Incidentally, their coach at that time was Eddie Ybañez, who is presently one of Alcoseba's lieutenants.

Leo Bat-og, Marlon Piodo and Bong Marata donated 13, 12 and 10 markers, respectively, for the Jewelers, who completed a 4-0 sweep in this four-day cagefest supported by Cebu City Mayor Tomas R. Osmeña and BAP vice president for the Visayas Michel Lhuillier.

Aple Coronado topped Montaña with 24 points, while Atablanco had 21 points in a losing cause. M. Lhuillier (94) - Tangkay 24, Laygo 21, Bat-og 13, Piodo 12, Marata 10, Enriquez 6, Aying 4, Garcia 2, Lumantas 2

Montaña Pawnshop (86) - Coronado 24, Atablanco 21, Quibod 13, Abanes 8, Ayson 6, Maraon 4, Jatico 4, Mejorada 3, Bonifacio 2, Braga 1