SCSIT, Ave Maria start hot in CBA semifinals

CEBU, Philippines - The Salazar Colleges of Science and Institute of Technology (SCSIT) Skyblazers and Ave Maria Sanctuary Park hurled their respective assignments at the start of the 1st M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu Basketball Association (CBA) season last Sunday at the Cebu Coliseum.

The top seeded Skyblazers avenged their earlier loss to Asian College of Technology (ACT) Cyber Knights, 85-77, while Ave Maria Sanctuary Park escaped with a 90-89 win over the gritty Talisay City, whose Ferdinand Lusdoc would have been the hero had he not missed his two free throws in the final few seconds of the match.

Mark Abadia led a third-quarter surge where the Skyblazers outscored the Cyber Knights, 25-12. He topscored with 26 points while Ronan Isidro added 20 markers.

Stephen Padilla chipped in 16 points for the Skyblazers.

The Cyber Knights was led by John Villaver with 16 points, while Michael Luga and Alano Caputolan combined for 25 points.

Earlier, Jercules Tangkay paced the Ave Maria with 24 points. Alex Cainglet and Mannie Gabas each scored 15 and Danny Aying had 10 points for Ave Maria, which outscored Talisay in the third, 29-19.

Lusdoc's 27-point performance went for naught after missing what would have been the winning free throws. Jayford Rodriguez added 17 points for Talisay. (FREEMAN)