CEBU, Philippines - The Calltek Trojans knocked out Xlibris but they had to pass through the wringer before pulling off a 65-64 squeaker over the Publishers to book the last playoff ticket in the Sun Cellular-presented 8th CSCC E-League men's basketball tournament at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.
Aerl Genebraldo had a solid double-double show of 20 points and 13 rebounds for Calltek, which also drew 18 points and five caroms from Al Jairro Magsanay. Calltek trailed by 10 points after the first quarter, 15-25, but launched a sizzling offensive in the final half to turn the tables on Xlibris.
Calltek and Xlibris actually finished the classification round with identical 3-7 win-loss records, but Calltek proceeded into the quarterfinal phase by virtue of a simple tie.
Calltek, however, has a mountain to climb as it takes on next the Northern Conference topseed Aegis Vipers, who enjoy a twice-to-beat along with the Convergys Wolves, Stream Ingenyouity, and ePerformax Reds against the 1&1 Marauders, Qualfon Knights and Kyocera Frontiers, respectively.
In the Southern bracket, the Teletech Titans emerged as the elimination round topnotcher with an 8-1 win-loss card. They will go up against the eighth-ranked SupportSave Jaguars in the next stage of the four-month tournament.
The other quarterfinal pairings pit the Lexmark Stallions vs. SSI Pure Science; Accenture Sharks vs. Odusee Rooz;and Sykes Pioneers vs. Teleperformance Lions.
The scores
Calltek (65) - Genebraldo 20, Magsanay 18, Martinez 9, Cons. Uy 6, Abellana 5, Celiz 3, Fernandez 2, Flores 2
Xlibris (64) - De Guzman 19, Go Bui 8, V. Tan 8, Salcedo 7, Quirante 5, Tangalin 5, Colmenares 2, Daradal 2, Melgar 2, Nocos 2 (FREEMAN)