Cebu, MisOr seal TOP title match

MANILA, Philippines - Host Misamis Oriental and M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala Cebu snatched victories in a pair of overtimes to arrange a title showdown in the eighth leg of the Tournament of the Philippines (TOP) at the Xavier University Gym in Cagayan de Oro City Tuesday.

Former pro Stephen Padilla hit a buzzer-beating triple to lift the Cebu Niños to a 91-87 win over the Ascof Lagundi Cough Busters for their fourth leg finals stint in the league jointly organized by the Philippine Basketball League and Liga Pilipinas.

“We were just lucky as we got the breaks when needed,” said Cebu coach Raul Alcoseba.

The Misamis Meteors also went through the wringer before hacking out a 75-69 victory over Hobe Bihon-Taguig City in the other game.

Cebu notched its second leg crown two weeks ago by beating Misamis Oriental, the same team it beat in ruling the third Conference of Liga Pilipinas last year.

Leading 67-65, Taguig had the game under wraps after Misamis’ Eder Saldua bungled a drive. But Taguig’s Ariel de Castro was called for a goal-tending violation after he hung on to the net as he tried to block Saldua’s lay-up, thus sending the game into overtime.

Cabahug finished with 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting, including five triples, while Saldua and Ramil Tagupa added 15 and 11 points, respectively.

The Niños posted leads as many as 16 points early but found themselves trailing the Cough Busters, 77-71, with 2:20 left in regulation as they missed their first 10 shots in the period.

Warren Ybanez, who ended the scoring drought with a lay-up, led Cebu with 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting aside from posting three assists, three steals and three rebounds. Padilla, the team’s leading scorer, finished only with six markers this time.