RJX Transport wins Division II crown Shell 78/85 forges rubbermatch

CEBU, Philippines - RJX Transport Solutions ’99 completed a two-game sweep of Centennial Hardware ’95 via a close 62-58 decision to snatch the Division II title of the Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association’s 11th Dr. Chen Lieh Fu Memorial Cup last Thursday night at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.

Earlier, Shell ’78/85 lashed back at Young Builders ’91, 64-60, to forge a knockout duel in their own race-to-2 series for the Division I crown. The rubbermatch is set at 1:30 pm tomorrow still at the same venue.

In stark contrast of the series opener, the Chester Cokaliong-skippered Class ’78/85 was in command from the start this time, leading by as much as 13 points, 26-13, anchored on a 14-0 rally masterminded by Edvin Kaw, Wilty Yap, and Joel Chan.

Showing nerves of steel, Class ’78/85 never relinquished its lead although it allowed Class ’91 to threaten on several occasions, the last was at 58-61 underneath the final two-minute zone of the contest.

Yap and Chan went 3-of-4 from the stripe with less than a minute left to pump up new life for Class ’78/85.

Yap exploded with a season-high 24 points for Class ’78/85 followed by Chan and Kaw with 15 and 12 markers, respectively. For the second straight game, Cokaliong was shackled by Young Builders’ stifling defense and was handcuffed to a season-low five points, all in the fourth quarter. 

 Juan Borromeo, Jr. topped Clas ’91 with 22 points, while Tommy Yu added 12.

In the main game, Albert Uy scattered 18 points and commercial star Earn Saguindel banged in 15 markers for Class ’99, which masterfully recovered from an early 13-26 deficit to fluster Class ’95 at the final buzzer.

Lawrence Lauron donated 12 points and Ruben Yap, Jr. added 10 for Class ’99.

Archie Gue paced Class ’95 with 19 points followed by Donald Anthony Ting and Raymond Gollon with 16 and 13 points, respectively.

The scores

First game

Class ’78/85 (64) - Yap 24, Chan 15, Kaw 12, Yu 8, Cokaliong 5

Class ’91 (60) - Borromeo 22, Yu 12, C. Go 9, E. Go 7, Ty 4, K. Co 4, Lim 2

Second game

Class ’99 (62) - Uy 18, Saguindel 15, Lauron 12, Yap 10, Ang 6, Tan 1

Class ’95 (58) - Gue 19, Ting 16, Gollon 13, Dy 4, Yu 3, Gerson 3. – EBV (THE FREEMAN)