Cebu evens series

CEBU, Philippines – It was another epic duel that left the spectators holding their breath until the final buzzer. This time around, the M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu Niños came out smoking the victory cigar.

The Niños drew big plays from Mark Magsumbol and Nat Cruz and then rode on lucky breaks towards the end of the match to punch back at the tough-as-nails MisOr Meteors, 78-75, to even their best-of-five finals series at one game apiece in the Tournament of the Philippines (TOP) last night at the Cebu Coliseum.

The win gave the Niños of team owner Michel J. Lhuillier and decorated coach Raul "Yayoy" D. Alcoseba the needed morale-booster as the next two games of the se-ries shifts to the Xavier University gym in Cagayan de Oro City. Game 5, if necessary, returns to Cebu on September 13.

In one of his finest games in M. Lhuillier uniform, Magsumbol cashed in 12 points spiked with back-to-back triples that gave the Niños a 13-point edge, 45-42, with just two minutes gone by in the third period.

Cruz, who topscored with 14 markers, later hit a 3-pointer that gave the Niños their biggest lead at 15 points, 55-40. The Meteors of MisOr Gov. Oscar Moreno and coach Jun Noel, however, countered with a searing 23-8 rally sandwiching the third and fourth quarters to knot the count at 63-all with still 7:15 left to play.

The score was tied for the last time at 66-all as the Niños proved to be a tough nut to crack when the game was on the line, thanks to the efforts of hardworking center Marlon Basco whose crucial trey and offensive rebounds kept Cebu in the thick of the fight.

There were several tense moments when the Meteors pulled within just a hairline, 75-76, as Stephen Padilla, whose offensive engine conked out all game long, just split his charities to make it 77-75 with 22 ticks left to play.

Luckily for the Niños, Patrick Cabahug committed a costly error in the ensuing play, losing the ball to Bruce Dacia who was then quickly fouled by Eder Saldua with four seconds to go. In an attempt to stop the clock, the Meteors again quickly fouled Dacia with two seconds remaining, putting the Niños in the penalty situation.

But then again, Dacia made only one free throw, giving the Meteors a chance to least forge an overtime with 2.4 seconds to go.

In the last thrilling moment of the closely-fought contest, Cabahug heaved a desperate 3-pointer just a little over the halftime area that literally left all the people inside the coliseum motionless for a second. The ball bounced off the glass and nearly dropped through the rim, giving the Cebu bench and their large throng of well-whishers a heavy sigh of relief.

Dacia added 12 markers, while Basco had 10 for the Niños as they compensated well for the ice-cold night of Padilla who was handcuffed to only eight points.

Cabahug was the lone double digit scorer for the Meteors with 19 points. (FREEMAN)