Niños lean on defense to overcome Stallions

MANILA, Philippines - Host Cebu overcame a sloppy start with a strong windup as it went to its full-court trapping defense to trounce Laguna, 97-72, last night and join Misamis Oriental in the lead in the Super Leg of Liga Pilipinas at the Cebu City Coliseum here.

Former pro Marlon Basco converted six of his 10 shots, including two from behind the arc, and finished with a game-high 23 points as he powered the Niños to their second straight victory or two wins away from clinching the outright berth in Sunday’s finals.

Cebu has actually strung up an impressive 18 straight wins in the tournament aimed at discovering talents from the provinces with Niños coach Yayoy Alcoseba vowing to go for a record-setting 21-game sweep.

“It wouldn’t matter if we win 18 straight and not win the title. Our goal is to win the title and if we can win it by winning 21 straight, that would be better,” said Alcoseba.

The tournament is sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and sponsored by Smart, Accel, Nolten, Burlington, Biofresh, Calcium Free, Gatorade, San Miguel Beer, Air21, Casino Alcohol, Omega Pain Killer, M Lhuillier Kwarta Padala and host Cebu Councilor Yayoy Alcoseba.

Ian Saladaga, Bruce Dacia, local legend Stephen Padilla and Ariel Mepana added 14, 11, 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Niños, who face the MisOr Meteors in a keenly-awaited match between unbeaten teams today.

Ron Capati paced the Nomar Isla-mentored Stallions with 20 points but he couldn’t help prevent his team from absorbing its second straight defeat.

Alcoseba credited their win to their pressure defense in the second half, particularly in the fourth quarter.

“In the first half we were not aggressive in defense but we made up for it with our full-court defense in the second half,” he said.

The Niños did struggle early and even trailed at 18-23 after the first quarter. But they put their act together in the second period, seizing a 43-38 advantage at the break before coming up with a series of runs in the last two quarters to take the starch out of the Stallions, who dropped their first outing, 78-84, to the Meteors.