CECABA stars tame own Dragons

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association (CECABA) All-Stars were having a good, clean fun against the CEC Dragons but they nearly crumbled with complacency before squeezing out an 86-84 victory last Sunday at the Cebu Coliseum.

Upon the invitation of the CEC administration to spice up the school’s annual Intramurals, CECABA founding president Chester C. Cokaliong and his comrades agreed to play against the youthful CEC varsity squad in the spirit of sportsmanship and cooperation as they are the ones hatching a comprehensive basketball program aimed at transforming the Dragons into a force to reckon with in developmental leagues within three years.

During their face-off, the CECABA stars stood like mighty giants ganging up on the diminutive Dragons. But instead of asserting their heft and height, the CECABA mainstays were considerate to initiate a free-flowing battle from the start until the final buzzer.

The credit was also in place for the CEC Dragons for putting up a gallant stand that nearly catapulted them to a stunning upset. Surprisingly, they outgunned their older foes in long-range sniping as they dropped a dozen 3-point bombs as against CECABA’s only five, all coming from Cokaliong.

Also, the CEC Dragons employed a trapping defense the entire game to wear down CECABA.

In the end though, CECABA tamed the youngsters behind the one-two combo of Cokaliong and Ricky Yu. Cokaliong, who went 3-of-3 from the foul line, charted 17 of his 20 points in the first two quarters. Yu then picked up the scoring cudgels in the final half where he poured in 18 of his team-high 26 markers.

At one point, the CECABA stalwarts mounted a 13-point advantage, 79-66, early in the final quarter but the Dragons roared back with a blistering 18-5 surge to forge an 84-all deadlock with less than a minute left to play.

In the ensuing sequence, Edvin Kaw had another trip to the charity lane after being fouled by the Dragons. Kaw, who earlier hit only one out of eight attempts from the stripe, made up from his terrible shooting when it mattered most by calmly dropping his gift shots to seal the deal for CECABA.

Kaw chipped in 17 points for the CECABA All-Stars, who improved their overall record to 17 wins, four losses and a draw. Belandred paced the Dragons with a game-high 32 points spiked with eight triples.

The scores

CECABA (86) - R. Yu 26, Cokaliong 20, Kaw 17, Mendez 9, Lanutan 6, Sia 5, Cokaliong 3

CEC Varsity (84) - Belandres 32, De la Cerna 16, Lin 16, Syponco 11, Damole 5, Oplado 2, Limchu 2

Quarterscores:22-23, 43-38, 65-60, 86-84. – THE FREEMAN