Cebuana Lhuillier wins, takes solo lead

Edgar Echavez outshone Bruce Dacia, Stephen Padilla and Hercules Tangkay as he powered the Cebuana Lhuillier to a 106-101 victory over the Cagayan de Oro Amigos yesterday, giving the Gems the solo lead in the MBA’s first conference at the CDSC Gym in San Fabian, Pangasinan.

Echavez, formerly of the Socsargen Marlins, unleashed a torrid fourth quarter run by exploding with 16 of his season-high 26 points that helped the Gems nail their third straight win.

Echavez’s nine straight points -- a triple and a pair of blitz-3s -- early in the last canto sparked a 27-6 run, transforming a 67-80 deficit to a 94-86 lead, an edge they never relinquished to post Cebuana Lhuillier’s biggest start ever in five years with a 3-0 slate.

So explosive were the Gems in the fourth quarter that 18 of their total production in the period came from blitz-3s and six from behind the three-point arc.

"Sabi ko lang sa mga bata takbuhan sa fourth quarter ang kalaban dahil mababagal ang malalaki nila (Cagayan de Oro)," said Cebuana Lhuillier coach Francis Rodriguez.