CEBU, Philippines - Vaunted hardcourt sniper Chester Cokaliong rained nine triples of his season-high 33 points as Pilipinas Shell ’78/85 coasted to its second straight victory in as many starts with a 77-46 massacre of Cebu Diamond Auto Parts 2000 in the Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association’s 11th Dr. Chen Lieh Fu Memorial Cup last Sunday at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.
Cokaliong scored all his 12 points in the final quarter from beyond arc as Class ’78/85 finished off the hapless Class 2000, 22-11, to wrap up the 31-point demolition, by far the most lopsided victory this season.
With their offense running smoothly, Class ’78/85 was never threatened after getting off to a sizzling 19-11. After closing the first half with a 34-22 advantage, the Shell-backed squad further padded its lead to 20 points, 55-35, leaving Class 2000 in disarray the rest of the way.
Cokaliong was heavily backed up on the offensive end by Edvin Kaw and Wilty Yap who conspired for 27 points.
Christopher Boltron paced Class 2000 with 16 points followed by John Bryan Lo with 11 as they suffered their second loss against the same number of wins.
In the other game, JRJ Enterprises 2007 finally barged into the win column after escaping past Chester Enterprises ’82/83, 50-47.
Class 2007 took a shaky 38-33 lead after three period, but was able to neutralize Class ’82/83 in the endgame to hang on to a three-point victory.
Juan Carlo Espada sparkled with 15 points for Class 2007. Raymark Ryan Ong added 12 points followed by Robin Chu with 10 as they snapped out of their two-game losing skid.
Stephen Tan charted a season-best 29 points but his big day was spoiled as Class ’82/83 slipped to 2-3.
The scores
First game
Class ’78/85 (77) — Cokaliong 33, Kaw 14, Yap 13, Chan 7, W. Yu 6, Lee 2, Tio 2
Class 2000 (46) — Boltron 15, Lo 11, Azarraga 8, Kua 5, Chua 3, Yu 2, Pimentel 2
Second game
Class 2007 (50) — Espada 15, Ong 12, Chu 10, Dy 4, So 3, Pilapil 2, Chang 2, Quimbo 2
Class ’82/83 (47) — Tan 29, Cokaliong 9, H. Yu 4, Ting 3, R. Yu 2. – THE FREEMAN