1st mp cup invitational caging CECABA sets league records in 57-point massacre of  SMA

Look for a tournament that Chester Cokaliong and the team he suited up have not established a league record and you will find none. This even if the feared marksman from Cebu Eastern College Batch ’78 has brought his shooting acumen to a new dimension and tougher level of competition.

A red-hot Cokaliong rifled a league-best 10 triples of his all-time high 40 points in Shell-CECABA’s 122-65 slaughter of Cebu Sports Media Association (CSMA) in the 1st MP Cup Invitational basketball tournament over the weekend at the Capitol Parish Gym.

Cokaliong also registered the most points scored by any player in a half with 27 he netted in the last two quarters. CECABA’s total output was the highest in a single game so as its 71-point outburst in the final half, while its 57-point blowout was by far the biggest winning margin in the two-month tilt bankrolled by boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao.

The CSMA Hoopsters enjoyed their first and only lead of the game, 4-2, with just a few seconds gone by in first period as the CECABA stars of coach Calvin Tuadles and assistant Jojo Romarate countered with a crippling 25-8 rally to tear the game apart, 27-12.

After closing the first half with an imposing 51-28 bulge, Cokaliong hit 16 markers in a 35-12 blitz that further fanned CECABA’s advantage to an eye-popping 46 points, 86-40, entering the final 10-minute zone of the contest. The Easternians finished off the one-sided match with a 36-25 run.

Stephen Tan chipped in 14 points, while Christopher Cokaliong and Gregorio Aguilar also came up with big games to finish with 12 points apiece for CECABA, which now joined Team Pacman at second in Bracket A leader board with similar 4-1 win-loss records. CSMA absorbed its fourth straight setback in as many games.

In the other game, House of Hope recovered from a lukewarm start to drain the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) Quenchers, 96-91, and chalk up its first win of the season.

Ginno Amodia, Noe Restauro and Neil de la Cuesta connived for 73 points as House of Hope snapped out of its three-game jinx.

The MCWD Quenchers took a 42-38 edge at the bend, but they couldn’t find an answer to House of Hope’s sizzling endgame show. Army Marata had a season-high 32 points followed by Lorelino Miñoza with 20 for MCWD, which fell to 1-3.

The scores

First game

CECABA (122) - Cokaliong 40, Tan 14, Cokaliong 12, Aguilar 12, Diputado 8, Go 8, Lanutan 7,  Sia 7, Calagos 6, R. Yu 4, Kaw 4

CSMA (65) - Panerio 12, Veloso 10, Villaruel 9, Migallen 9, Rellin 8, Cordova 8, Hemecillo 5, Aznar 2, Escalante 2

Second game

House of Hope (96) - Amodia 29, Restauro 22, De la Cuesta 22, Genson 9, Cabarrubias 5, Reyes 3, Ceniza 2, Aleonar 2

MCWD (91) - Marata 32, Miñoza 20, Ferolino 12, Basirgo 9, Handayan 6, Dalina 6, Abatayo 4, Chan 2