Misamis Oriental, Cebu on track for title duel

ZAMBOANGA CITY , Philippines  – There may be two more legs to play before the elimination phase ends and a wildcard round to settle but with the way the Misamis Oriental Meteors and Cebu Niños are playing, it looks like they are on a collision course for a rematch of last conference’s national finals.

The M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu Niños scored their 13th victory in as many games by whipping the host Zamboanga Uno Latinos while the defending national champions MisOr Meteors coasted to an easy win against expansion team Apayao Rapids at the start of the Smart Liga Pilipinas Conference III Zamboanga City leg at the Zamboanga City Coliseum Wednesday night.

Cebu toyed with the smaller Latinos and engineered a flawless 123-97 rout of host Zamboanga behind the 29 points of Stephen Padilla to remain perfect.

The Latinos need to finish at least third in their final leg assignment to make the playoffs for seats in next month’s Super Leg, which will determine the next national champion of the conference supported by Smart, Molten, Accel, Calcium-Cee, Gatorade, Air 21 and Burlington and sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).