Misamis Oriental claims Liga leg title over Lhuillier

CEBU, Philippines - Mark Yee canned in two pressure packed charities with 0.3 seconds left as Misamis Oriental came from behind to nip M. Lhuillier Cebu, 69-68, and capture the Smart Liga Pilipinas Conference II leg championship at the University of San Carlos main gym Saturday night here.

The victory, marred by a controversial call at endgame, was the Meteors’ third straight leg win as they virtually clinched them the top seeding going into the playoffs of the tournament supported by presenter Smart, and ML Kwarta Padala, Air 21, Accel, Burlington, Laptop Phoneshop Exchange, Nature’s Spring and Molten and sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).

“We worked so hard to be where we are today. All the teams were very even in this leg. Breaks made the difference,” said MisOr coach Jun Noel.

Yee bailed out the Meteors for the second straight game with two free throws off an Ariel Mepana foul in the dying seconds. 

But Cebu coach Raul Alcoseba and several team members confronted the referees after the game and some Cebuano fans pelted the court with plastic water bottles and even chairs in protest to the foul called by referee Wilbert Culanag.

Timely intervention by Liga officials prevented the incident from going out of hand.

“He (Culanag) did the same thing in the game of Taguig yesterday. It’s a pity because this was a great finals but the referee had to decide the outcome of the contest,” said Alcoseba.

In a game that was tight throughout, the Ninos surged at 68-67 as Stephen Padilla rifled in a triple with 23 seconds left in the game. 

MisOr sued for time but Mark Moreno missed a jumpshot in the corner and Rocky Sanchez and Yee flubbed in their tip-in attempts. In a scramble for the rebound, Mepana fouled Yee.

Eala said Liga officials will review the tape to determine culpability of the referees if any and also of Cebu team officials for their on-court behavior.