Niños win Misamis Oriental leg; Meteors top elims

MANILA, Philippines - M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu, priming up for its title retention bid, walloped Quezon, 100-79, to rule the Misamis Oriental leg in the 2009 Smart Liga Pilipinas Conference II at the Xavier University Gym in Cagayan de Oro Saturday night.

Misamis Oriental also posted a runaway 77-55 victory over Iloilo to top the elims phase of the tournament.

The Cebu Niños thus earned their second leg title this conference after taking the Manila leg crown and closed out the Tour Phase with 41 points for third at the end of the elims phase.

Despite the loss, the Red Oilers, who topped the Taguig City leg, stayed in fourth with 36 points.

Both teams will enjoy the homecourt advantage as they begin their Round-of-8 campaign in the playoffs set this week.

Marlon Basco, winner of the leg’s MVP plum, teamed up with new recruit Abby Santos as the Niños outscored the Red Oilers in the third, 28-15, on their way to a whopping 20-point lead, 86-66.

Santos came away with 22 points and 12 rebounds while Basco had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Cebu will play No. 6 Ilocos Sur (22 points) while Quezon will take on No. 5 Manila (29 points) in the opening round of the playoffs.

In the first game, the Meteors salvaged third place honors at home to gain homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs.

MisOr toppled Trace-Laguna Stallions for the top spot in the Liga Tour standings with 46 points. The Stallions, who held the top spot majority of the elims, slid to second with 44 points.