Castrol ’96 strolled past Hannah’s Cakes and Decors 2004, 55-51, to breeze through the Division II finals of the Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association’s 9th Dr. Chen Lieh Fu Memorial Cup on Friday night at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.
Arnel Frank Pelaez banged in 15 points followed by Shaun Christopher Wang with 12 for Class ’96, which set the tempo of the match to take a 30-23 advantage at halftime.
Class ’96 suffered an offensive breakdown in the third period, but went strong in the closing minutes of the contest to preserve the win.
Christian Espada charted a game-high 20 points for Class 2004, while Danel Hayag donated 12 markers. The missing link was Aljhune Areja, who was handcuffed to a season-low five points. Despite the loss, Class 2004 could still make it to the championship round if it hurdles its next assignment.
In the other game, Young Builders ’92 kept its Division I finals bid alive with a 62-47 shellacking of Dewfoam ’88.
Richard Lanutan finished with 18 points and Mitchel Diputado added 16 for Class ‘92, which kept Class ‘88 at bay since getting off to a hot 14-6 start.
Class ’92 closed the first half with a 30-17 lead and then finished off Class ’88 with a 17-13 run in the windup for the 15-point romp.
With the victory, Class ’92 staved off elimination after dropping its first semifinal match against Neo-Neo Grill ’85.
Man mountain Richard Yu had 18 points and Gregorio Aguilar pitched in 12 markers for Class ’88, which is still groping for form without its star guard Erwin Yu who is still nursing from an injury.
The scores
First game
Class ’92 (62) - Lanutan 18, Diputado 16, Ordes 6, W. Yu 6, Kong 5, S. Yu 4, Ngo 3, Tan 2, Lim 2
Class ’88 (47) - R. Yu 18, Aguilar 12, Ng 7, R. Lim 4, P. Lim 4, Villamor 2
Second game
Class ’96 (55) - Pelaez 15, Wang 12, Ong 9, Donayre 6, Babor 5, Lariosa 4, Alinson 2, Dy 2
Class 2004 (51) - Espada 20, Hayag 12, Areja 5, Chan 5, Co 4, Syponco 3, Mamac 2 — EBV