Shell ‘80s wins bronze medal Class ‘95 survives ‘88 in OT to draw first blood in CECABA finals

CEBU, Philippines - Shell '80s blew hot and cold but turned to the steady-shooting hands of top hitman Chester Cokaliong in the windup to annihilate the First Family Appliance Circle '96, 80-62, and clinch the third place honors in the Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association's 12th Dr. Chen Lieh Fu Memorial Cup last Tuesday night at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.

In the nightcap, the top seeded New Millennium Hardware '95 overcame a tough challenge by Dewfoam '88  to eke out a scrappy 51-45 win in overtime and gain a 1-0 upstart in their best-of-three championship showdown.    

Flashing another MVP-like performance, Cokaliong exploded with 30 points for Shell '80s, all coming from the 3-point land. His four straight cruise missiles in the final five-minute zone of the contest brought the heaviest damage on Class '96.

Class '96 was actually in control in the first few minutes of the game but they led for the last time at 12-9 as the Cokaliong brothers Chester and Christopher conspired with Stephen Tan in a sizzling 12-0 run that suddenly put Shell '80s ahead by nine, 21-12, going into the second quarter.

Class '80s took a double-digit edge for the first time at 35-24 on back-to-back triples by Cokaliong. Class '96 crawled to within just three, 32-35, but Shell '80s detonated a 17-5 bomb to regain a comfortable 52-37 cushion.

Still, Class '96 refused to wave the white flag, rallying back with savvy to close the gap down to only five points, 56-61, but that was the best it could muster as the red-hot Cokaliong drilled in four more 3-pointers in a  decisive 17-4 attack at the endgame that gave them an unassailable 18-point advantage, 78-60, with a minute left to play.

Cokaliong got huge support from Stephen Tan with 23 points and his vastly-improved younger brother Christopher, who capped a productive season with 15 points. Rogelio Donayre paced Class '96 with 14 points followed by Dreyfuss Ang with 13.

On the other hand, versatile guard Donald Anthony Ting cashed in 20 points as Class '95 moved a win away from clinching the coveted title. They could practically wrap up the race-to-2 series with another victory in Game 2 scheduled at 7:30 tonight.                 

Class '95 was in full command from the onset, but they could not pull away in double figures in the face of a spirited resistance by Class '88.

The NM Hardware-backed squad, however, deftly protected a shaky lead to grind through a marginal six-point victory, although they still needed an extra five-minute period to get rid of the gritty Class '88 in a highly physical match. (FREEMAN)

The scores

For third

Class '80s (80) -  Ches. Cokaliong 30, S. Tan 23, Chris. Cokaliong 15, Lim 6, S. Co 3, Chan 3

Class '96 (62) - Donayre 14, Ang 13, Lariosa 9, Alinson 8, Babor 6, Patiño 6, Renejane 4, Baron 2

Game 1, Finals

Class '95 (51) - Ting 20, Dy Teves 8, Yu 7, Tiu 5,Gue 5, Gollon 4, Ho 2

Class '88 (45) - Aguilar 14, Yu 10, Tanting 6, Lim 5, Ng 4, Ong 3, Po 3