Cebu pips MisOr, claims TOP title

MANILA, Philippines - M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu held off Misamis Oriental, 78-76, in their sudden death to capture the Tournament of the Philippines (TOP) crown at the full-packed Cebu Coliseum in Cebu City last Monday.

The Niños seized control early and led by as many as 15 points but needed one big defensive stop down the stretch to repulse Misamis’ fierce rally and rule the inaugural staging of the event jointly organized by the Philippine Basketball League and Liga Pilipinas.

Cebu, which also won in Games 2 and 4, wrapped up the best-of-five series, 3-2.

Former UAAP scoring champion Patrick Cabahug put Misamis to within, 76-77, with back-to-back triples that nearly silenced the Cebuano supporters with barely 17.6 seconds left in the contest.

Cebu’s Froilan Baguion made a split, giving Misamis a chance to force overtime or win it with a triple.

But Cabahug flubbed a wide-open three-point shot and Eder Saldua missed on a forced shot as time expired.

The game was stopped at the 4:56 mark of the third period when Dino Daa took a bad fall after colliding with Mark Ababon.

The Meteors also struggled at the stripe, making only five of 17 tries in the first half alone. In contrast, the Niños made all but one of their 10 attempts.

The Niños also held Reed Juntilla and Neil Raneses to a combined 16-point output. Cabahug led all scorers with 20 points.

“We were able to contain the combined production of Cabahug, (Reed) Juntilla and (Neil) Rañeses. This (game) was their lowest combined production. (But) this game was the hardest for us,” said Cebu coach Yayoy Alcoseba.