Tribu Sugbu outshine CdO Stars in NBC tourney

CEBU CITY–Jercules "Jojo" Tangkay marked his return here after a brilliant stint in the PBL by leading Tribu Sugbu (Cebu Tribes) to a rousing 77-61 victory over the Cagayan de Oro Stars in the NBC (National Basketball Conference) national championship Friday night at the Cebu Coliseum here.

Tangkay scored 12 of his game-high 23 points in the second quarter as the Tribesmen of businessmen Lito Gillamac Jr., Albert Tan and Dr. Kelly Viado made an auspicious debut in the tourney sponsored by Panasonic, Spring Cooking Oil, PCSO, Distilleria Limtuaco, Sulpicio Lines, Air Philippines, Nature’s Spring Mineral Water, Supercat, Accel, Molten and Cebu Ferries.

"Nadala ako sa crowd. Ang sarap ng feeling dahil naglalaro ako sa harap ng mga kababayan ko," said Tangkay, who also collected five rebounds, one assist and a steal in only 20 minutes of play.

Tangkay’s explosion helped the Tribes turn a 24-26 deficit into a 39-33 halftime lead. The CdO stars of Antonio Camalingin last threatened at 48-52 behind the dizzying speed and hot shooting of Julius Navales.

It was easy sailing for the Cebuanos after that as coach Al Solis put the bigger Reggie Licanda on Navales to silence the Stars’ top gunner.

Former UV Lancer point guard Ronald Bucao also starred for the Tibes, finishing with 15 points, four rebounds, six assists and a steal.

The Cebuanos gun for their second win against pacesettling Iloilo at 5 p.m. today at the Cebu Coliseum here.

"Iloilo will be our acid test," said Solis, who last played in the PBA with the Red Bull Barako. Iloilo leads the South Division with four straight wins.

The scores:

Cebu 77 — Tangkay 23, Bucao 15, Almacin 6, Tecson 5, Gamboa 4, Grijaldo 4, Dela Rosa 4, Galinato 4, Larong 4, Mercado 2, Licanda 2, Elim 2, Mutia 0.

CdO 61 — Navales 16, Alfeche 10, Carretas 8, Culdora 6, Adams 6, Pong 5, Numeran 4, Jabagat 4, Jimenez 2, Abato 0, Ybanez 0.

Quarterscores 18-16, 39-33, 57-48, 76-61