Lion Tiger hands Prime Asia first defeat in Partner's Cup

CEBU, Philippines - The Lion Tiger Katol/USJ-R Jaguars survived a poor free throw shooting late in the fourth period to pull off a stunning 85-82 victory over the previously undefeated Prime Asia-UV Lancers in the 6th CESAFI Partner's Cup men's basketball tournament last Sunday night at the Cebu Coliseum.

Lion Tiger missed five out of eight attempts from the stripe, allowing Prime Asia to keep coming back and threaten at 82-83 on Vincent Mendoza's gift shots with 9.7 seconds left in the contest.

Free throw shooting woes nearly spoiled the day of Lion Tiger. It started when Jason Olbedado flubbed his charities at the final 3:36 mark of the contest. Later, Banjo Capillar and Olbedado only shot 3-of-6 from the line, giving Prime Asia another opportunity to steal the game.

Miguel Tabaloc, however, came to the rescue of Lion Tiger by calmly dropping his freebies to give his side an 85-82 edge with only three ticks left before the final buzzer. Prime Asia's John Abad then threw an airball as the time expired.

Rookie James Regalado had a breakout performance to pace Lion Tiger with 17 points, while Abulaiz Sulaiman and Olbedado banged in 14 and 12 markers, respectively.

Bigman Wowie Escocio finished with 14 points followed by Eman Calo with 13 for Prime Asia, which saw its six-game win streak come to a screaching halt.

Earlier, the Gaisano Capital Tisa-UC Webmasters bested KIA Motors/CIT-U Wildcats, 79-72.

Gil Wagas netted a dozen points, while John Auditor and Conz Lumingkit connived for 21 markers as Gaisano Tisa never looked back after getting off to a sizzling 27-12 start.

John Graf knocked in five triples of his topscoring 20 points for KIA Motors.

The scores

First game

Gaisano Tisa-UC (79) - Wagas 12, Auditor 11, Lumingkit 10, Gomz 8, Cabahug 8, Heruela 7, Cueva 5, Villanueva 4, Quintao 4, Mohammad 4, Cabrera 2, Niones 2, Ada 2

KIA Motors/CIT-U (72) - Graf 20, Dimco 17, Menguito 10, Taboada 8, Brigolo 4, Taghoy 3, Dela Cerna 2, Rabaya 2, Tabalin 2, Batiquin 2

Second game

Lion Tiger/USJ-R (85) - Regalado 17, Sulaiman 14, Olbedado 12, Tabaloc 8, Capillar 7, Palileo 6, Perez 5, Sanchez 4, Dela Rama 4, Medalle 2, Lajato 2, Molas 2, Villarosa 2

Prime Asia-UV (82) - Escocio 14, Calo 13, Mendoza 10, Abad 9, Saycon 8, Avillanoza 7, Oktobre 5, Kadir 5, Perolino 3, Codilla 3, Mercader 3, Cabanero 2   - THE FREEMAN