Cebu, Misamis seal title duel

CEBU, Philippines - Host Misamis Oriental and M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu sealed another mouth-watering title showdown by pulling off similar overtime victories over separate rivals in the eighth leg of the Tournament of the Philippines (TOP) Tuesday at the Xavier University Gym in Cagayan de Oro City.

Former pro Stephen Padilla redeemed himself from an awful shooting early by hitting a buzzer-beating three-point shot to help the Cebu Niños to a 91-87 win over the Ascof Lagundi Cough Busters and into their fourth leg finals stint in the league jointly organized by the Philippine Basketball League and Liga Pilipinas.

“We were just lucky as we got the breaks when needed,” said Cebu coach Raul Alcoseba.

The host Misamis Meteors also went through the wringer before pulling off a 75-69 victory over Hobe Bihon-Taguig City – big thanks to former UAAP scoring champion who nailed back-to-back treys in the extra period.

For notching their second straight wins, Misamis and Cebu, who are playing at presstime to determine who between them will sweep the 3-game elimination and gain the extra two-point bonus, forged their second leg championship.

Cebu notched its second leg crown two weeks ago by beating Misamis Oriental – the same team it beat in ruling the Third Conference of Liga Pilipinas last year.

“Ang hirap ng basketball sa amin. But ang maganda, naipakita ng mga bata na sila ang talagang gustong manalo,” said coach Jun Noel.

Leading 67-65, Taguig had the game under wraps after Misamis’ Eder Saldua bungled what looked like a sure basket but the ball cruelly lipped out.

In a twist of fate, Taguig’s Ariel de Castro made an end-game booboo, clinging on to the net after trying to block Saldua’s lay-up. He was called for a goal-tending violation, thus sending the game into extra period.

Cabahug finished with 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting, including five triples while Saldua added 15 and Ramil Tagupa 11 as the Meteors pulled off the victory despite a poor performance by forward Neil Raneses who scored just eight points on 3-of-12 shooting.

The Niños posted leads as many as 16 points early but found themselves trailing the Cough Busters, 77-71, with 2:20 left in regulation as they missed their first ten shots in the period.

Warren Ybañez, who ended the scoring drought with a lay-up, led Cebu with 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting aside from posting three assists, three steals and three rebounds. Padilla, the team’s leading scorer, finished only with six markers this time.

The scores

First game

MLKP Cebu (91) - Ybañez 20, Basco 17,   Dacia 11, Cruz 10, Ababon 8, Santos 8, Saladaga 7, Padilla 6, Mepana 2, Magsumbol 2

Ascof Lagundi (87) – Asoro 19, Co 15, Aguilar 12, Lanete 9, Smith 8, Gamalinda 7, Canlas 6, Uyloan 4, Manuel 4, Taylor 3

Quarterscores: 26-18, 49-38, 65-61,79-79, 91-87

Second game

MisOr (75) – Cabahug 25, Saldua 15, Tagupa 11, Raneses 8, Taganas 8, Andaya 4, Lamocha 2, Misa 1, Moreno 1

Hobe Taguig (69) – De Castro 23, Fernandez 13, Gatumbato 9, Vizcarra 6, Sanders 4, Dela Cuesta 3, Tajonera 3, Sta. Cruz 3, Cacha 2, Reguera 2, Guiyab 1

Quarterscores: 15-21, 31-33, 48-55, 67-67, 75-69. (FREEMAN)