Meteor shower hits Cebu Misamis Oriental dethrones Cebu Niños to rule Liga Pilipinas Conference II

CEBU, Philippines – The Misamis Oriental Meteors played as if they were in their homecourt, battering the lackadaisical M. Lhuillier Kwarta-Cebu Niños at will on all fronts to navigate safely to a 64-52 victory in the deciding match of their best-of-five finals series and clinch the Smart-Liga Pilipinas Conference II championship before a stunned Cebuano crowd last night at the Cebu Coliseum.

While the Niños struggled with their shots and at times tentative with their attempts, the Meteors transformed the Coliseum into a virtual shooting gallery, so lucky that they even hit buzzer-beating baskets everytime the hosts threatened to close in.

The credit also goes to the Meteors’ stonewall defense all game long specially in the third period where they employed a full-court trapping defense that shackled the Niños’ offensive pattern. In that stretch, the Meteors outgunned the Niños, 26-11, to build a 17-point advantage, 55-38, in the third period.

Cebu’s only bright spot was when it took an early 10-5 lead. The Meteors of MisOr governor Oscar Moreno and coach Jun Noel charged back with aplomb to regain a 17-12 lead.

The Niños briefly wrested the driver’s seat, 30-29, on a triple by Stephen Padilla, but that proved to be their last hurrah as Mark Yee, living to his billing as the Conference and Finals MVP, scattered 10 points in a searing 17-2 rally that pushed the Meteors ahead by 14 points, 46-32. Their biggest lead though stood at 19 points, 53-34, with 1:19 remaining in the third period.

From there onwards, the Niños couldn’t chop the deficit even just down to a single digit. They threatened for the last time, 46-57, on Mark Ababon’s running jumper with 3:31 left to play.

Yee finished with 12 points, while Joey Mente chipped in 10 markers on a 3-of-4 shooting from the 3-point line for the Meteors, who outrebounded the Niños, 36-29, aside from forcing Cebu to a conference-high 21 turnovers.

The game was halted for a moment when empty mineral water bottles went flying onto the hardcourt after Mente responded on the catcalls directed at him by Cebu fans in an adverse manner with 16 seconds before halftime.

Ababon was the long bright spot for the Niños with 13 points. The rest couldn’t score more than eight points.

The Niños were supposed to play an inspired game as team owner Michel J. Lhuillier, who seldom watches their games, was at the sideline to cheer them up and boost their morale as they seek for a historic back-to-back Liga titles.

What happened was the other way around.

The scores

MisOr (64) - Yee 12, Mente 10, Gudez 9, Kong 8, Tagupa 8, Butel 6, Micutuan 5, Bombeo 3, Daja 2

Cebu (52) - Ababon 13, Dacia 8, Basco 7, Santos 6, Padilla 6, Mepaña 4, Aying 2, Enriquez 2 (FREEMAN NEWS)