Cokaliong Shipping Lines back on the winning track; World Wide Steel pads clean slate to 4-0 in Winners' League

Sharp-shooting guard Chester Cokaliong fired another round of offensive outburst even as power forward Gilbert Gajudo was in his usual deadly form to steer Cokaliong Shipping to an 83-72 romp of JV Shop N Shop last Sunday in the 2006 Winners' League basketball tournament at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.

In the main game, World Wide Steel feasted on the absence of Sherilin Plastics' ace gunner Jeremy Huang to hack out a 65-51 victory and firm up its grip of the overall lead with an immaculate 4-0 slate.

After being held off to 10 points in their 53-57 loss to Sherilin Plastics, Cokaliong shot back to life, knocking in seven triples of his game-high 30 points on top of three assists, two rebounds and a block to grab his second game MVP honors.

Gajudo was equally-explosive, dishing out a solid double-double show with 21 points and 11 rebounds. He also had five assists and two blocks as Cokaliong Shipping moved to solo second spot with a 3-1 win-loss record.

Cokaliong, who shot 3-of-3 from the free throw line, bombed out three triples of his 14 points in the second quarter where they built as much as 16 points lead. They closed the first half with a 46-36 advantage.

JV Shop N Shop worked extra hard to cut the deficit down to seven points, but Cokaliong Shipping regrouped in time to restore its twin-digit edge the rest of the way.

Top center Jack Huang also figured prominently in Cokaliong's triumph with 16 points, a season-high eight assists and seven rebounds.

Chester's younger brother Christopher Cokaliong also had a noteworthy performance, finishing with a season-high 14 rebounds on top of seven points, two assists and two steals. Alex Yeo scored only five put collected 10 caroms.

Dexter So and Ronald Uy each had 21 points, but couldn't find the winning formula as JV Shop suffered its third defeat in four starts.

Later, World Wide Steel only had two points lead at halftime, 26-24, but pummeled Sherilin Plastics in the final half, 39-27, to come up with a 14-point demolition.

In the absence of Jeremy Huang, Norman Lopez stepped up bigtime with 21 points, but his lone effort did not produce positive effects as Sherilin Plastics dropped to third with 3-2 card.

The scores

First game

Cokaliong Shipping (83) - Cokaliong 30, Gajudo 21, Huang 16, Cokaliong 7, Yeo 5, Malixi 2, Sarmiento 2

JV Shop (72) - So 21, Uy 21, Gabasa 11, M. Sy 10, Olvido 5, V. Sy 4

Second game

World Wide Steel (65) - Hing 13, Razon 10, Po 8, Huang 8, Sy 8, W. Ong 7, K. Ong 6, N. Ong 5

Sherilin Plastics (51) - Lopez 21, Mercado 11, Ong 5, Gaw 5, Go 5, Yap 4