Burly center Shaun Christopher Wang charted a season-high 23 points as Castrol ’96 dealt Welcoat Paints 2004 its first defeat of the season, 70-65, at the start of Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association’s 10th Dr. Chen Lieh Fu Memorial Cup semifinals on Thursday night at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.
It was a timely victory for Class ’96 as every win counts in the penultimate round of the four-month tilt.
Rogelio Donayre and Rex Alinson chipped in 11 markers apiece for Class ’96, which surprisingly led from start to finish. The Castrol-backed squad took an eight-point lead at the end of the third period, 55-47, and never looked back the rest of the way.
Class 2004 lost despite drawing big games from the deadly triumvirate of Christian Espada, Aljhune Areja and Rodney Lindimar Co. Espada finished with 18 points, while Areja and Co banged in 33 points combined.
Young Builders ’91, on the other hand, rode on a daring third-quarter breakaway to kick off its semifinal round campaign with a 58-47 whacking of Chester Enterprises ’82/83.
Class ’91 trailed by a matchstick at halftime, 30-31, but Chester Benedict Go, Tommy Yu and Roger Crisologo presided over a searing 20-4 rally to put Class ’91 in front, 50-35, for good.
Yu dished out a season-best 20 points for Class ’91 followed by Crisologo with a dozen markers. Go scored all his eight points in the third period.
Class ’91 also did well on the defensive end, limiting Class ’82/83 top gunner Stephen Tan to just 11 points. Edwin Lim was the only other double-digit scorer for the Chester Enterprises-sponsored team also with 11. —EBV