Cokaliong gets even with Sherilin Plastics Gullas fires 49 points in Castle Peak Hotel's first win

Cokaliong Shipping Lines pulled off a vengeful 67-60 win over erstwhile tormentor Sherilin Plastics to firm up its grip of the solo second place in the 2006 Winners' League basketball tournament last Friday at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.

In the nightcap, explosive guard Samsam Gullas dropped 18 of his tournament-high 49 points in a furious fourth quarter uprising to catapult Castle Peak Hotel to its first victory of the season via an 85-83 squeaker over JV Shop n Shop.

So dominating the Cokaliong Shipping stalwarts were that they never looked back after jumping off to a sizzling 6-0 start. They posted their biggest lead of 16 points at 48-32 late in the third canto.

Alex Yeo topscored Cokaliong Shipping with 16 points and top hitman Chester Cokaliong tossed in eight of his 15 markers in the third quarter that helped preserve their twin digit lead, 52-40, entering the last 10-minute zone of the contest.

Yeo then took over the scoring charge, firing in eight points in the final quarter to fend off Sherilin's last ditch rally.

Yeo, who shot 5-of-8 from the field and 6-of-8 from the foul line, also had four rebounds, while Cokaliong, who went 4-of-6 from the stripe, added six rebounds and two steals.

They were ably backed up Gilbert Gajudo and Edgar Sarmiento as they bolstered their bid for a twice-to-beat edge in the semifinal round with an improved 5-2 win-loss record.

Gajudo submitted double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Sarmiento chipped in 10 points and season-highs four assists and three steals. Jack Huang scored only seven, but was monster in defense with a season-high six blocks on top of eight rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Miguel Iway and Jeremy Huang finished with 18 points apiece for Sherilin Plastics, which slipped to third place with a 5-3 slate.

In the other game, Castle Peak Hotel was trailing by eight after three quarters, 55-63, but the red-hot Gullas presided over a searing 30-20 rally in the windup that enabled them to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

The only other double-digit scorer was Edmund Gaisano with 13 as Castle Peak Hotel finally snapped out of its seven-game jinx. Team owner Charlie Tolentino poured in five of his nine points in the final stretch.

JV Shop, on the other hand, tasted its sixth defeat against only one win.