Cebuanos turnout real MVPs

Cebu coach Tonichi Yturri admitted the road to the ultimate glory in the MBA Intra-Conference became a little less daunting minus Romel Adducul in the Manila Metrostars lineup.

Be that as it may, Yturri has maintained nothing should be taken from his team, saying the first MBA crown which they won Wednesday was the fruit of their hard labor.

For Yturri and his boys, the bottom line was that they trounced the Metrostars to be on top of the league.

"In the end, the only thing that would be remembered here is the Cebu Gems ruled the 2000 MBA Intra-Con," said Yturri.

He considered all the members of the team and the big Cebuano crowd the MVPs in their conquest of the Metrostars.

The Cebu mentor is thankful to the Cebuano fans for giving the Gems all-out support as they even outnumbered the hometown crowd at the Mail & More Sports Complex in San Andres Wednesday.

The Cebuanos’ chants of "Daog na!, Daog na!" (It’s over!, it’s over!) reverberated at the venue as the Gems fashioned out a 98-86 win, completing a 2-0 sweep of the Metrostars in the short title series.

"I’m overwhelmed by the support our fans had given us especially those who came at the Mail & More Arena to cheer us," said Yturri. "Biruin mo hanggang dito sa Manila, we enjoyed a homecourt advantage."

Yturri also thanked the Cebu management under Cebuana Lhuillier owner Jean Henry Lhuillier for their undying support

"Siyempre, how can you forget the management and Mr. (Jean Henry) Lhuillier, who were there to give us moral support, win or lose."

The former PBA player said they will savor their victory first before going back to the drawing board to mop up plans for the forthcoming National Playoffs.

The Gems will be next up against the Iloilo Megavoltz Wednesday in their best-of-three Southern Conference semifinals.

"We want to savor this win first. We will think about our playoff game versus Iloilo in a couple of days," said Yturri. "Our chances against the Megavoltz is fifty-fifty."