Cokaliong stars anew for CECABA All-Stars

The Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association All-Stars once again rode on Chester Cokaliong's explosive outside shooting to annihilate sister-team CECABA Selection, 92-67, in the 2006 Executives Cup basketball tournament last Sunday at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.

Cokaliong, who shot 41 percent from the three-point land, knocked in 11 3-pointers of his 37 points to easily win the game MVP honors. He canned 5-of-7 triples of his 19 markers in the first quarter alone to spur the CECABA All-Stars to a rip-roaring 34-12 start.

The CECABA All-Stars, backed by Pilipinas Shell, further buried the Runway Tires-sponsored CECABA Selection in its graveyard with a formidable 25-point advantage at halftime, 52-27.

From that point on, the CECABA Selection was in complete mess as it couldn't even pull within a single-digit.

Top center Sammy Sia added 11 points and seven rebounds, while flashy guard Joel Chan chipped in 10 points, 10 assists, nine caroms and two steals as the CECABA All-Stars grabbed the solo second place with a 7-2 win-loss card.

Playmaker Erwin Yu contributed eight points, eight assists, five rebounds and three steals for CECABA All-Stars, while Richard Yu scored only two but labored hard in defense with eight rebounds and five blocks.

Danny Calagos finished with 17 points, 13 rebounds and four assists but fell short-handed in the end as CECABA Selection plunged on the brink of elimination with a 2-6 slate.

In the other game, Edgar de la Calzada sparkled with a season-high 30 points, while Reynold Zamora dished out a league-record 15 assists on top of 10 points, nine steals and seven rebounds in Team Barkada's heart-pounding 77-75 victory over Club Monday-Gatorade.

Giovanni Mante netted 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists followed by Danny Lim with 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Barkada, which forged a three-way tie at third with Insular Life and Jaycees Basketball Association (JBA) with similar 6-2 cards.

Club Monday actually had an opportunity to win, but faltered as Andres Seno Jnr only shot 1-of-6 free throws in the dying seconds of the contest.

Club Monday missed the services of two key players in Demosthenes Alfeche and Carlito Macasero Jnr, but Barkada was also without top gunners Pablo Yu and Richard Molina.

Seno wound up with 24 points and Julito Bacatan had 18 for Club Monday, which suffered its worst showing in the league with only three wins so far in nine starts.