CEBU, Philippines - 3R Audio '98 and JV Shop n Shop '97 ended their elimination round campaigns on a bright note to book a quarterfinal ticket in the Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association's 12th Dr. Chen Lieh Fu Memorial Cup last Friday night at the CEC gym.
Rex Millan had 15 points, Erick Andrew So added 13 points, nine rebounds and three assists as Class '98 tamed the short-handed Dewfoam '88, 61-51, while Denver Dano charted 16 points, three rebounds and two assists as Class '97 fended off Las Vegas KTV-M16 Disco '94, 58-53.
Class '98 finished the qualifying stage with a 9-6 win-loss record, while Class '97 heads into the next round with an 8-7 slate.
Class '98 made the most from the absence of Dewfoam's top gunners Ricky Yu and Ernest Tanting. Rey Kenneth Ng and Robert stepped up with 11 points, but their efforts went for naught as Class '88 suffered its fifth loss in 14 games. The Dewfoam-backed squad now needs to win their last game to clinch the fifth spot and a twice-to-beat advantage going into the quarterfinals.
Despite the loss, Class '94 is already assured of a berth into the next phase of the tournament courtesy of its 9-6 win-loss card. (FREEMAN)
The scores
First game
Class '98 (61) - Millan 15, E. So 13, P. So 9, Evangelista 7,Santos 6, Yap 6, Co 4, Lim 1
Class '88 (51) - Ng 11, R. Lim 11, Aguilar 9, Dy 7, Yu 6, Lim 4, Villamor 2, Po 1
Second game
Class '97 (58) - Dano 16, Ibones 12, Tan 11, Labus 10, Uy 5, Sy 4
Class '94 (53) - Chua 18, Beldeniza 9, Peña 7, Yu 7, Gaw 5, Jao 3, De Asis 2, Manaois 2