Stephen Tan fired 19 points and Christopher Cokaliong added a season-best 17 markers to vault Chester Enterprises ’82/83 to a precarious 67-62 victory over Asian Home Appliance ’89/93 in the Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association’s 10th Dr. Chen Lieh Fu Memorial Cup at the City Sports Club-Cebu Gym.
Tan, who also had seven rebounds and three assists, scored 10 in the first quarter to push Class ’82/93 to an early 19-11 lead.
After the two protagonists fought on even terms in the second period, Class ’89/93, behind the efforts of Ryan Alexis Mendez, staged a mini-rally in the third to pull within 44-49 entering the payoff period.
Class ’89/93 stayed within striking range, but Class ’82/83 proved t be a tough nut to crack at crunchtime to preserve the win, its second straight in as many starts.
Mendez had an explosive game, dishing out season-highs 27 points and seven steals. Erwin Ong tossed in 12 points on top of eight rebounds, but their efforts went to waste as Class ’89/93 suffered its second loss in three games.
Later, First ACY 2006 displayed great team effort in chalking up its first victory of the season at the expense of JRJ Enterprises 2007, 48-41.
Three players submitted twin figures for Class 2006 led by Nolsie John Cisneros with 13 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Junwyn Dy added 11 points and nine rebounds followed by Ritzi Lloyd Tan with 10 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.
Class 2006 dominated the first half, 21-13. Class 2007 rallied back in the third, 16-8, to forge a 29-all deadlock, but Class 2006 outclassed the younger graduates in the endgame to snap out of its two-game losing skid.
Juan Carlos Espada had season-highs 16 points and five steals, while Raymark Ryan Ong had 14 points and six rebounds for Class 2007, which slipped to 1-2.
The scores
First game
Class ’82/83 (67) - Tan 19, Cokaliong 17, Ting 9, R. Yu 6, S. Co 6, Lim 4, R. Co 2, Lee 2, Ku 2
Class ’89/93 (62) - Mendez 27, Ong 12, Lim 8, Chiang 5, Chua 4, Lao 4, Yap 2
Second game
Class 2006 (48) - Cisneros 13, Dy 11, Tan 10, Sungapo 4, Tan 3, Miranda 3, Urian 2, Wong 2
Class 2007 (41) - Espada 16, Ong 14, Haw 5, Chang 2, Bayer 2, Dy 2 — EBV