Niños KO Team Pacman: M. Lhuillier-backed squad completes semis cast in TOP

CEBU, Philippines – The M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu Niños hit back at the team that halted their previously unbeaten 30-game winning streak in style, knocking out Manny Pacquiao's GenSan-Pacman MP Warriors with a masterful 93-81 decision to advance into the semifinal round without glitch in the Tournament of the Philippines (TOP) last night at the Cebu Coliseum.

Thus, the Niños of team owner Michel J. Lhuillier and head coach Raul "Yayoy" D. Alcoseba joined archrival MisOr Meteors, Ascof Lagundi and Treston Laguna into the Final Phase of the tournament jointly organized by the Liga Pilipinas and Philippine Basketball League.

The Niños, who suffered their first and only defeat in almost a year at the hands of Pacman, was in full command of the match and allowed the visiting Warriors to taste the lead once, 22-21, with just 52 seconds gone by in the second period.

The M. Lhuillier-backed side then countered with a 31-13 blitz to mount a lofty 52-35 advantage at halftime and was never threatened the rest of the way.

The Niños sustained their relentless attack in the third quarter to post their biggest lead of 28 points twice, the last was at 80-52, with only 13 seconds into the payoff period.

The Cebuano hosts appeared to be complacent on all fronts in the windup, allowing the Warriors to narrow down the gap to just a dozen markers at the final buzzer.

Surprisingly, Richard Ian Saldaga topped Cebu with 15 points, while Stephen Padilla and Abby Santos chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively. Louie Medalla was the lone bright spot for GenSan with a game-high 23 points. (FREEMAN)