Cokaliong, Chan steal show as Shell '80s survives 2007

CEBU, Philippines - Chester Cokaliong and Joel Chan combined for 61 points in a night of sizzling 3-point shootout, powering  Shell '80s to an 85-83 nail-biter over Wild Rice 2007 in the Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association's 12th Dr. Chen Lieh Fu Memorial Cup last Tuesday night at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.

The two protagonists turned the match in a virtual shooting showdown that was accounted for a total of 26 conversions from beyond the arc, 15 coming from Shell '80s.

Cokaliong, who pulled two rebounds and picked up one steal, darted 11 triples of his 36 points spotlighted by a crucial five-point swing in the closing minutes of the match that kept Shell 80s heads above the water in the face of a spirited resistance by the gritty Class 2007.

 Chan was similarly explosive, churning out a season-high 25 points on top of 16 rebounds and eight assists, while Christopher Cokaliong netted 11 points, 14 rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block in an all-around performance for Class '80s, which tallied its seventh straight win and eight overall in 10 starts.

Class '80s trailed for most of the way and was even down by as much as eight points in the third quarter, 59-67, but staged a daring endgame fightback masterminded by Cokaliong and Chan to turn the tables on Class 2007 at the final buzzer.

Class '80s slowly, but surely chopped down the deficit until they finally seized the upperhand at 76-75 on a booming trey by Cokaliong. The contending squads then figured in a see-saw battle from there onwards, but lucky breaks titled in favor of the Shell-backed side.

Class 2007 was on top for the last time at 84-83 as Chan calmly sank a pair of pressure-packed free throws to push Class '80s ahead by a matchstick, 84-83.

In the ensuing sequence, Cokaliong was quickly fouled after getting an offensive rebound with nine seconds to play. The league's revered founder and incumbent president split his charities but it was more than enough to lift Class '80s into cloud nine.

Interestingly, Class '80s won despite playing without Stephen Tan, one of its top gunners who was in Manila to attend to some important matters.

Raymark Ryan Ong and Juan Carlo Espada each score 18 points but they could not prevent the listless Class 2007 from absorbing its sixth consecutive defeat.

In the other game, Erwin Yu banged in 15 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals, while man mountain Richard Yu added 14 points, 14 rebounds, and seven asssists as Dewfoam '88 slammed Young Builders '91, 57-44, to improve its win-loss record to 5-3.

Chester Benedict Go and Wendell Ang nailed 11 markers apiece for Class '91, which suffered its seventh loss against only two victories.

The scores

First game

Class '80s (85) - Ches. Cokaliong 36, Chan 25, Chris. Cokaliong 11, Z. Tan 6, Yu 5, Mendez 2

Class 2007 (83) - Espada 18, Ong 18,  So 15, Dy 10, Pilapil 9, Chu 8, Bayer 3, Po 2

Second game

Class '88 (57) - E. Yu 15, R. Yu 14, Aguilar 9, R. Lim 6, Tanting 6, P. Lim 4, Ng 3

Class '91 (44) - Go 11, Ang 11, De la Torre 9, Lim 6, Borromeo 5, Yu 2