CEBU, Philippines – The Convergys 2 Blue Devils and the Teleperformance Vipers pulled off contrasting wins to gain a 1-0 upstart against their respective foes in the best-of-three conference finals of the 10th CSCC E-League men's basketball tournament last Saturday at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.
The Blue Devils displayed great team effort as they easily dispatched the ePerformax Reds, 71-55, to move one win away from clinching the Division 2 crown, while Teleperformance escaped past the Lexmark Stallions, 56-52, to draw first blood in the Division 1 finals.
Clifford Amarado notched 13 points, while Lorenz Limpangog added 12 points, four rebounds and three steals for Convergys 2. Roderick Mangubat added 10 markers for the Blue Devils, who kept ePerformax at bay after sprinting to a 20-11 start.
The Blue Devils toned down offensively in the second quarter, but again turned red-hot after the halftime break, launching a 23-13 blitz to rip the game apart and send the Reds reeling the rest of the way.
Angellan Visoc was the lone double-digit scorer for ePerformax with 12 points laced with nine rebounds.
Earlier, no Teleperformance player hit twin digits but their offense was balanced enough to gun down Lexmark. Teleformance lost a nine-point lead at the break, 28-19, but fended off every comeback attempt by Lexmark towards the end of the match to grind through a four-point victory. The likes of Gamaliel Bas, Dean Junber Escalon, James Lester Navaja and Garry Pastoral figured prominently for Teleperformance.
Franco Angelo Cipriano netted 17 points on top of nine rebounds, four steals and two assists for Lexmark. Niel Tiempo had 13 points, five assists, two steals and two rebounds, while Ralph Loren Martinez scored 11 laced with five rebounds and three assists but they could do nothing to shatter the excellent teamwork of Teleperformance. — EBV) (FREEMAN)