Wong stars in Class '81/85's win

Hung Fai Wong was at the right place at the right time.

Wong calmly sank a pressure-packed layup in the final 24 seconds of the game to lift Armour Wood '81/85 to a hard-earned 81-77 victory over the gritty Chester Enterprises '67/83 in yesterday's exciting start of the Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association's 8th Dr. Chen Lieh Fu Memorial Cup at the Cebu Coliseum.

Wong scored only five points, but his last basket came like a timebomb that blew Class '/67/83 apart.

Before Wong's endgame heroics, Class '81/85 seemed to head for a lopsided win as it led by twin digits twice, including a 44-33 cushion with 1:41 left in the second quarter.

But Class '67/83, banking on the combined assault of Stephen Tan and the ageless Zotico "Tuco" Tan, rallied back in the payoff period to pull within a hairline, 71-72, on Christopher Cokaliong's putback in the final 3:59 mark of the contest.

Wilsyon Yu split his charities in the ensuing play to make it 73-71 for Class '81/85.

Hopes of Class '67/83 to change the momentum on its side flickered as it missed six straight free throws, allowing Class '81/85 to pad its lead in that stretch to six, 79-73, with still 1:54 to go.

Still, Class '67/83 refused to throw in the towel, with Stephen Tan scoring on a layup and Zotico Tan hitting a pair of free throws to close in at 77-79 with 1:13 remaining.

Class /67/83 could have tied the count after Joseph Lloyd Tio was called for a 3-second infraction, but failed as Tuco Tan committed a costly passing error.

In the return play, Wong preyed on Class '67/83's shallow defense by drilling in a semi-acrobatic layup, causing his teammates to burst into frenzied celebration.

With time running out, Class '67/83 continued its desperate attempt to pull one miracle, but its efforts vanished in thin air after Cokaliong muffed a short jumper. Joel Chan grabbed the rebound and was quickly fouled by Stephen Tan with 6.9 seconds left before the final buzzer.

Chan missed both his free throw, but the outcome was already clear at that point.

Chan topped Class '81/85 with 22 points, Stephen Lee had 15 points, while Edvin Kaw and Wilson Yu chipped in 13 and 12 markers, respectively.

Stephen Tan fired a game-high 29 points for Class '67/83, while Zotico Tan added 26 points in a losing cause.

Class '67/83's only consolation was when it won the best in uniform award. On the other hand, Yza Robane Eduava of Class '96 romped away with the Miss CECABA 206 honors.

The scores
Class '81/85 (81) - Chan 22, S. Lee 15, W. Yu 13, Kaw 12, Tio 6, R. Yu 6, Wong 5, R. Tan 2
Class '67/83 (77) - S. Tan 29, Z. Tan 26, Cokaliong 8, Ting 6, Lim 6, Calagos 2