Double thriller: Class 2000 edges '98 in 2OT; '81/85 ousts '84/87 in overtime to reach CECABA semis

The spectators of last Sunday's pair of sudden-death quarterfinal matches at the City Sports Club Cebu gym literally found themselves inside a suspense theater, with one game going into extra period overtime and the other lasting in double overtime.

JRJ Enterprises 2000 dug deep in two overtimes to repulse Cokaliong Shipping '98, 93-86, while Armour Wood '81/85 need a five-minute extension before disposing off Eco-Tech Appliance '84/87, 77-70, to march into the semifinals of the Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association's 8th Dr. Chen Lieh Fu Memorial Cup.

It was a heartbreak of a loss for Class '98 as victory was imminent when it led by a hairline, 74-73, and Gerald Plaza was fouled by Oliver Boltron with one-tenth of a second left in the regulation period.

However, Plaza, in a fit of anger, reacted negatively to the foul by inciting Boltron to a fistfight, prompting the referees to throw Plaza of of the game.

Worse, Class '98's Virgilio Escoton missed what could have the insurance free throws. On the other side of the court, Boltron of Class 2000 split his charities off Plaza's technical foul to forge a 74-all deadlock, thus, the first overtime.

The two squads once again engaged in an air-tight battle resulting into an 80-all standoff for the second overtime.

Capitalizing on it fresher legs, Class 2000, behind the fully-charged Phil Marvin Lausa, bombarded the fagged out Class '98 with a 13-6 run in the second overtime to wrap up one of the most exciting games in CECABA history.

Lausa poured 10 of his topscoring 22 points in two overtimes even as five other players submitted twin figures for Class 2000 in a show of great teamwork.

Rodnie Ocarol donated 15 points, Michael Lloyd Tan 13, Charles Henry Kua 12 and Alfie Romeo Chua 11. Their efforts were more than enough to offset the season-low 11-point output by its top gunner John Brian Lo.

Lo was hounded by foul trouble in the first half, enabling Class '98 to crawl back from an 17-point deficit in the second quarter and even grab the lead, 57-54, after three quarters.

Elvis Evangelista scattered 30 points and Rex Millan posted a season-high 25 points, but their efforts went futile as Class '98 proceeded to the exit.

In the other game, Class '81/85 overhauled a 15-point deficit in the third quarter and then toiled hard in the extension to terminate Class '84/87, behind a scintillating 31-point show by Joel Chan.



Stephen Lee backed up Chan with 18 points, while Wilson Yu and Edvin Kaw contributed 14 and 10 markers, respectively, for Class '81/84, which now joined Class '88 and Class '89/93 in the next round.