Tolentino helps Class ‘87 check 3-game skid in CECABA

A red-hot Charlie Tolentino fired a career-high 28 points to help Security and Systems Monitoring ’87 snap out of its three-game skid with a 89-62 massacre of Vitastrong ’81 in the Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association’s 9th Dr. Chen Lieh Fu Memorial Cup on Thursday night at the CEC Gym.

It was a masterpiece of a performance for Tolentino, who shot 6-of-10 from the three-point land and 5-of-9 from the 2-point field goal in an awesome display of outside shooting brilliance.

Tolentino, who also had four assists and three rebounds to spice up what had been a memorable night for him, canned 16 points in a game-closing 28-20 rally that towed Class ’87 to a 27-point blowout.

Leonardo Angeles also deserved honorable mention with season-highs 22 points, 10 rebounds and four steals for Class ’87, which detonated a powerful 28-12 bomb in the third period to blow a 33-30 lead at halftime into a 61-42 bubble going into the final 10 minutes of the contest.

Henrich Chua chipped in 15 points, four rebounds and three assists followed by Joubert Lim with 13 points, seven caroms and two assists as Class ’87 checked a three-game slump after a 5-0 start to improve its win-loss record to 6-3.

Pedro Eng, Jr. canned 24 points, four rebounds and four assists, Robert Tan had 16 points and eight rebounds, while Tirso Aberia netted 12 markers and the same number of rebounds but their combined efforts didn’t work miracle as Class ’81 tailspun to its sixth straight loss in as many games.

In the other game, Erwin Yu had 15 points and five rebounds as Dewfoam ’88 crushed Villa Shipping ’70s, 58-43, to better its win-loss record to 4-3. Erwin’s tag partner Richard Yu scored only eight but had 10 rebounds, five steals, three assists and three blocks in a monster effort.

Class ’88 jumped off to an 18-11 start, but Class ’70s rallied back in the second period, 15-8, to forge a 26-all deadlock at the turn.

That proved to be Class ’70s’ last hurrah as Class ’88 capitalized on its quickness and fresher legs to blow the game wide open in the final half where they outscored the Villa Shipping-backed squad, 32-17, for the 15-point demolition.

Tony Ong was the only double-digit scorer with 17 points and six rebounds for Class ’70s, which suffered its sixth consecutive setback after a rare 3-0 start.

The scores

First game

Class ’88 (58) - E. Yu 15, Villamor 9, R. Yu 8, Dy 6, Aguilar 5, Po 4, P. Lim 4, Macias 3, Ng 2, Ong 2

Class ’70s (43) - Ong 17, Calagos 9, Kong 8, Sy 5, Tecson 2, Go 2

Second game

Class ’87 (89) - Tolentino 28, Angeles 22, Chua 15, J. Lim 13, Lin 5, K. Lim 4, Artus 2

Class ’81 (62) - Eng 24, Tan 16, Aberia 12, Lu 10