Young Builders, RJX Transport draw first blood

CEBU, Philippines - Young Builders ’91 and RJX Transport Solutions ’99 drew first blood against their respective rivals in the best-of-three division finals of the Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association’s 11th Dr. Chen Lieh Fu Memorial Cup on Tuesday night at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.

Class ’91 overcame a spirited endgame resistance by Shell ’78/85 to pull off a 71-70 cliffhanger in Division I, while Class ’99 easily dismantled Centennial Hardware ’95, 76-60, in the opener of their own race-to-2 showdown for the Division II title.

After engaging in a close battle, Class ’91 suddely pulled away to post its biggest lead of 13 points, 65-52, early in the final period.

Behind the efforts of Wilson Yu and Edvin Kaw, Class ’78/85 put up a courageous fightback to pull within just a matchstick, 70-71, on two free throws by Chester Cokaliong. Unfortunately, the Shell-backed squad did not have enough time to complete what could have been a great escape.

Juan Borromeo, Jr. had 19 points for Class ’91, while Tommy Yu and Emerson Go cashed in 11 and 10 markers, respectively.

Kaw, Yu and Wilty Yap connived for 51 points. Top gunner Chester Cokaliong had a season-low eight points and was held off to a single attempt from beyond the arc due to the stonewall defense thrown on him by Class ’91.

In the main game, Ruben Yap, Jr. charted 26 points, while Earn Saguindel and Albert Uy added 15 points each for Class ’99, which kept Class ’98-B at bay since closing the first half with 37-31 advantage. They capped the game with a 19-9 bang, thus, the 16-point blowout.

Donald Anthony Ting was the lone double-digit scorer for Class ’99 with 26 points.

The scores

First game

Class ’91 (71) - Borromeo 19, Yu 11, E. Go 10, C. Go 9, K. Co 9, Lim 6, De la Torre 3, Crisologo 2, Ty 2

Class ’78/85 (70) - Kaw 18, W. Yu 17, Yap 16, Cokaliong 8, Chan 5, Palomas 3, Wong 2, Ku 1

Second game

Class ’99(76) - Yap 26, Saguindel 15, Uy 15, Lauron 8, Ang 6, Tan 6

Class ’95 (60) - Ting 26, Yu 8, Dy 6, Gollon 6, Gue 5, Gerzon 4, Tan 3, Ho 2 – EBV  (THE FREEMAN)