Inter-Alumni finally wins vs. Inter-Club

Mission accomplished.

The Inter-Alumni stalwarts finally lashed back at their Inter-Club counterparts but not without toiling hard before scraping through a vengeful 120-112 win in last Sunday's high-scoring 2006 Executives Cup All-Star Game at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.

Bull-strong forward Dindo Sausa and long-range bomber Chester Cokaliong unloaded 23 points apiece, but it was Sausa who copped the All-Star MVP honors for hitting 11 markers in the crucial stretch that bridged Inter-Alumni to triumph.

Star center Paul Abais likewise deserved a special mention as he finished with 20 points, eight of which he made in the final period.T

Two other cagers figured prominently in Chris Sta. Maria and Joel Chan with 17 and 15 markers, respectively, as Inter-Alumni snapped out of its two-game skid to Inter-Club since the league's inception in 2004.

The MVP award was actually a toss-up between Sausa, Cokaliong and Abais. The deadly triumvirate had enormous contributions as Cokaliong stoked the early offensive fire before Sausa and Abais dealt the finishing kick.

Cokaliong, who shot 50 percent from the field, fired a total of seven 3-pointers, six he dropped in the first half including one that handed Inter-Alumni of coach Elmer "Boy" Cabahug a double-digit lead, 59-49, after being down by as much as nine points earlier, 31-40.

The Inter-Club squad, however, countered with a 10-3 run to narrow down the gap to three at halftime, 59-62.

The Inter-Club regained the lead at 72-71 on Andres Seno's basket and even padded it to six, 77-71, but Sausa, Abais and Chris Sta. Maria joined efforts to put back Inter-Alumni in front, 89-87, entering the final 10-minute zone of the contest.

An air-tight duel ensued that resulted to four deadlocks, the last was at 107-all. Sausa broke the standoff with two free throws and later C. Sta. Maria hit a basket to make it 111-107 for Inter-Alumni.

The closest Inter-Club could come was at 112-114 as Abais and C. Sta. Maria went 4-of-4 from the foul line before Sausa punctuated a 6-0 run in the dying seconds to put icing on Inter-Alumni's victory cake.

James Lloyd Noel topped Inter-Club with 20 points, even as four others cashed in twin digits. Edmund Odulio, Jr. had 16 markers, Seno added 14 followed by Alfred Lim and Esteban Cesar Ortega with 24 points combined.