Lhuillier, Cabs survive; all teams tied at 2-2

CEBU City — The unexpected came to form as top Cebu teams M. Lhuillier and Chariot Econo Cabs prevailed against separate rivals yesterday in the 2001 CBL President’s Cup at the New Cebu Coliseum.

M. Lhuillier fought hard for survival and came up with an overwhelming 77-63 victory over La Salle-manned Osaka Iridology.

Chariot Econo Cab hang tough in the stretch for a 77-63 triumph over ML Kwarta Padala in the match marred by the ejection of Chariot’s Gary Cortez and ML Kwarta’s James Laygo with 50.9 seconds to go.

The Jewelers and the Econo Cabs literally went through the eye of the needle for survival and their wins brought about what was hardly expected to happen, that is, all five participating teams winding up with similar 2-2 cards — a first in the history of Cebu basketball.

The Jewelers were actually on the brink of being eliminated but came with a big turnaround. The win was enough to install them the No. 1 team after the elimination round.

CBL commissioner Elmer "Boy" Cabahug computed the tie-break in front of all coaches. Computation showed that Lhuillier got the highest quotient with 1.04 while idle Guardo Shiatsu took second place with 1.03.

Chariot was third with 1.00 while Osaka Iridology bagged the last slot with 0.97 going into the crossover semifinals of this event sponsored by Rudy Project, Thirsty Juices and Shakes, Nature’s Spring, Adidas, Coca-Cola, Sunsport, POW Designs, BBC’s Printstop, Y101 and Charlie @ Rhythms.