Taguig smothers Cebu; Misamis Oriental remains unbeaten

CEBU City, Philippines – Harold Sta. Cruz sank two pressure-packed free throws in the last 18 seconds as Harbour Centre-Taguig edged M. Lhuillier-Cebu, 80-78, in the Cebu City leg of the 2009 Smart Liga Pilipinas Conference II at the New Cebu Coliseum last Wednesday.

The Batang Global pounced on Bruce Dacia’s turnover in the closing seconds with Sta. Cruz calmly delivering the marginal baskets from the line that made it 79-78.

The Niños actually had a chance to turn the game around but Mark Ababon missed a strong drive to the hoop.

Lou Gatumbato drew a foul from Marlon Basco in a rebound scramble and knocked in a charity for the final tally as Stephen Padilla missed a desperation triple at the buzzer.

“This is a win we badly needed. Cebu is tough to beat at home. This is a very tough leg and every game is important,” said Taguig coach Robert Flores.

It was a sorry loss for the Niños who dominated the contest majority of the way only to crack in the final two minutes. The Niños led by as many as 14 points early in the second period, 27-13.

In the first game, the Misamis Oriental Meteors stretched their unbeaten run to nine by disposing of the Smart-Pampanga Buddies, 82-73.

The Meteors led from start to finish and posted their biggest lead at 48-28 with eight minutes left in the third period.

But the Buddies, behind Don Camaso and Francis Mercado, fought back to within eight points, 66-74, entering the final two minutes.

The Taguig win the coupled with the Pampanga loss made the race for the eighth and final playoff spot tighter as the Batang Global is now only a point behind the Buddies in the league backed by Smart, ML Kwarta Padala, Air 21, Accel, Burlington, Laptop Phoneshop Exchange, Nature’s Spring and Molten and sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).