GCM Royalle Merchandise ‘98-B subdued JRJ Enterprises 2007, 59-51, to extend its unbeaten run to six in the Cebu Easter College Alumni Basketball Association’s 10th Dr. Chen Lieh Fu Memorial Cup on Thursday night at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.
Class ’98-B actually had a lukewarm start and trailed by six points at the bend, 25-31.
Leovigildo Yu and Robinson Yap, however, each scored eight points in an 18-9 blitz that enabled Class ’98-B to erase the deficit and took a 43-40 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of the contest.
Yu continued his sizzling offensive, while Virgilio Escoton Jr. joined the scoring fray as Class ’98-B finished off the youngest graduates with a 16-11 run in the windup.
Yu finished with 20 points on top of four rebounds and two assists followed by Yap with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Elvis Evangelista also torched a dozen markers on top of nine caroms as Class ’98-B firmed up its grip of the overall lead with a clean 6-0 slate.
Juan Carlo Espada topped Class 2007 with 18 points and a season-high eight assists followed by Jelster Ed Quimbo with 13 points. The missing link was top hitman Raymark Ryan Ong, who was held off to a season-low eight points as they slipped to 3-4.
In the other game, flashy guard Ryan Alexis Mendez rifled 26 points, seven rebounds, four steals and two assists as Asian Home Appliance ’89/93 eked out a 55-53 thriller over Corner Bakery/Petrogas ’92.
The only other double-digit scorer for Class ’89/93 was Henry Chua with 10. They lost an early 20-12 lead but played tough at crunchtime to even its win-loss record to 2-2.
Richard Lanutan had 15 points, nine rebounds and three steals, while Mitchel Diputado banged in 14 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two steals but they couldn’t make an impact as Class ’92 suffered its third loss in four starts.
The scores
First game
Class ’89/93 (55) - Mendez 26, Chua 10, Ong 9, Chiang 8, Yu 2
Class ’92 (53) - Lanutan 15, Diputado 14, Kong 9, Dy 9, Lim 6
Second game
Class ’98-B (59) - Yu 20, Yap 12, Evangelista 12, Escoton 8, Chua 4, Co 3
Class 2007 (51) - Espada 18, Quimbo 13, Ong 8, Chu 6, Dy 4, Po 2 – EBV