Lhuillier takes Bulls by the horn, stays up front in NBL

CEBU CITY – Aldrin Ocanada scored seven of his nine points in the last six minutes as M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala rapped the Pampanga Bulls, 80-70, Thursday to raise its frontrunning record to 9-1 in the National Basketball League (NBL) championship at the new Cebu Coliseum here.

The victory assured the Cebuanos of homecourt advantage in the semifinals of the tourney sponsored by Tanduay Rhum, Air Philippines, Cebu Ferries, Nature’s Spring Drinking Water, SuperCat, BJ Star Logistics, Panasonic, Sinners and Saints, The Freeman, Jaguar KTV, Gatorade and Molten Basketballs.

Earlier, Forward Taguig took advantage of Compak Shineway-Ozamiz’s last-minute woes to escape with a 67-66 win.

Taguig’s fifth win in nine games boosted its chances of overtaking the third-running Bulls (6-5).

Action resumes at the Natalio Velez gym in Silay City, Negros Occidental today with the Cebuanos facing Compak Shineway at 3 p.m. and host Air Philippines-Bacolod taking on Taguig at 5.

Down 50-64 after three quarters, the Bulls rallied behind Pet Duyag and Dave Bautista to cut the deficit to five, 63-68, with still 6:12 left.

But after Reuben dela Rosa fired a trey, Ocanada unloaded three baskets, including a triple, to cap a 12-3 run that put the outcome beyond recall, 80-66.