Gaisano Capital overcomes Ave Maria

CEBU, Philippines - Six-foot-nine giant Junemar Fajardo underscored his intimidating presence to power Gaisano Capital to an 83-79 victory over Ave Maria Sanctuary Park in the 5th CESAFI Partners' Cup last Tuesday night at the Cebu Coliseum.

Games tomorrow (Cebu Coliseum)

5:30 pm Rose Aquarius vs. Gaisano Capital

7 pm Lion Tiger Aerosol

vs. San Marino Corned Tuna

Earlier, Rose Aquarius Merchandising made an impressive four-game winning run with a 69-46 demolition of Prime Asia Pawnshop to improve its win-loss record to 5-6 and move closer to advancing into the semifinals.

At one point when Ave Maria took a 73-69 lead in the final two minutes of the contest courtesy of Banjo Capillar's back-to-back triples, Gaisano Capital simply looked for none other except for Fajardo, giving him the leather at the paint where he retaliated with five straight points as they regained the lead just a few seconds gone.

As the 9-1 Gaisano Capital decided to employ pressure defense, it was Fajardo who defended the inbounder to prevent him from having a clear vision as to whom he would pass the ball. That instantly produced five more consecutive points to Gaisano Capital's lead to six points, 79-73. The seven straight points made by Roger Caytuna in the final 2:18 of the match proved too much for Ave Maria.

Fajardo, who always thrived on alley-oops and three-point plays that proved to be his most lethal weapon, topscored for Gaisano Capital with 20 points while Caytuna added 14 points.

Ave Maria, which fell to 4-7 win-loss record, was led by Capillar with 4 markers. — THE FREEMAN