Chester Cokaliong has added reason to celebrate a very happy birthday today.
CEBU, Philippines - Cokaliong rifled 30 points including a pair of clutch hits from the 3-point range in the final three minutes of the contest that propelled Pilipinas Shell '80s to a 77-71 stunner over the previously undefeated New Millennium Hardware '95 in the Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association's 12th Dr. Chen Lieh Fu Memorial Cup last Sunday at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.
Shell '80 actually got off to a slow start resulting into a five-point deficit early on, 17-22. They were still down by a hairline at halftime, 38-39, but after tying the count at 41-all, Cokaliong bombarded three consecutive triples that suddenly gave them a 50-41 advantage. Their biggest lead though stood at 10 points, 54-44, on a basket by Stephen Tan midway in the third period.
However, the gritty Class '95 cagers led by Donald Anthony Ting easily wiped out the deficit and eventually wrest the driver's seat, 60-61, with just a minute gone by in the final quarter.
Class '95 was on top for the last time at 66-65 as after Christopher Cokaliong sank the go-ahead shot for Class '80s, his sweet-shooting big brother Chester knocked in crucial triples that vaulted the Shell-backed squad to one of the biggest upsets this season.
Cokaliong buried a total of 10 triples he spiked with two rebounds as Shell '80s notched its fifth straight win and sixth overall in eight starts.
The ever reliable Stephen Tan cashed in 18 points, six rebounds and three steals, while Christopher Cokaliong contributed a dozen markers on top of a season-high 14 rebounds, one assist and one block.
The likes of Joel Chan and Wilson Yu also deserved a honorable mention for Class '80s. Chan scored only five, but was huge factor in other facets of the game with his 15 rebounds, 13 assists and two steals. The same goes to Yu who only had seven points, but pulled down 10 rebounds, dished out five assists and picked up two steals.
Ting paced Class '95 with 22 points, five assists, two rebounds and two steals. Izmer Tiu had 18 points, six rebounds and four assists, Dean Dy Teves finished with 15 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks, while Joseph James Yu banged in 12 points, seven rebounds and six assist, but their efforts went to waste as they saw their six-game winning streak come to a screeching halt.
In the other game, Junwynne Dy nailed 19 points and Ralph Victor Yap added 16 points, eight rebounds and four steals as First ACY Shipping bested Wild Rice 2007, 56-48.
Class 2006 ripped the game apart right in the first quarter, 20-6. They never looked back from thereon on the way to notch their only second victory in seven starts.
Raymark Ryan Ong netted 20 points and hauled four rebounds for Class 2007, which crashed to its fourth loss in a row. (FREEMAN)
The scores
First game
Class '80s (77) - Ches. Cokaliong 30, S. Tan 18, Chris. Cokaliong 12, Yu 7, Chan 5, E. Lim 2, Z. tan 2, S. Co 1
Class '95 (71) - Ting 22, Tiu 18, Dy Teves 15, Yu 12, Chica 4
Second game
Class 2006 (56) - Dy 19, Yap 16, Nuñez 9, C. Tan 8, Tiu 2, Rosello 2
Class 2007 (48) - Ong 20, Espada 9, Chu 7, Po 6, Haw 4, Dy 2