Montaña foils title dream of Cebuanos in Davao tilt

Jose Randy Panerio became the hero as Digos City Mayor's Squad Montaña Pawnshop extinguished the championship hopes of M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala with a 75-72 conquest of the Cebu Jewelers in the Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte Cup "Battle of Champions" the other night at the Davao City Recreation Center.

As of this writing last night, Digos Montaña slugged it out with Ozamiz Cotta for the championship, while the Jewelers fought against Duterte Agilas for third place honors.

Ozamiz shot down the Agilas, 102-95, to clinch the first final ticket in the five-day cagefest presented by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte in coordination with the sports development division headed by Christopher "Bong" Go and sanctioned by BAP Region XI director Regino "Boy" Cua.

Panerio hit a booming triple to tie the count at 71-all with 1:16 left in the game. That proved to be Digos Montaña's springboard in shattering M. Lhuillier's invincibility.

In the ensuing play, Desederio Ayson scored on a layup courtesy of a nifty assist by Linde Dawal and later Paul Guerrero split his charities off a foul by Woodrow Enriquez to give Digos Montaña a 74-71 breather with 36 ticks left before the final buzzer.

As M. Lhuillier was held scoreless in the closing seconds, Dawal sealed Digos Montaña's win with a free throw.

Panerio and Gonzaga topped Digos with 14 apiece, while Ayson added 10 markers.

Reed Friar Juntilla led M. Lhuillier with 16 points followed by Enriquez with 11.

In the other game, Bruce Dacia topscored for Ozamiz Cotta with 25 points, while Billy Bansil, Marlon Basco and Lou Gatumbato combined for 41 points.