On the wings of Pastor

CEBU, Philippines - The Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles rode on the scintillating performance of Eroll Pastor on both ends of the court to whip back at the University of Cebu Junior Webmasters, 63-53, and forge a rubbermatch in their best-of-three finals for the juniors division title of the 15th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. men's basketball tournament last night at the Cebu Coliseum.

With ace gunner Jed Colonia still not in his usual deadly form, at least offensively, and top wingman Andrew Velasco reduced to a mere cheerleader with a fractured right hand, Pastor gamely rose to the challenge by dishing out a monster double-double show of 23 points and 19 rebounds spiked with five steals to give the Magis Eagles a lifeline.

Pastor pumped in 11 points in the fourth quarter, capping his game-long brilliance with a nifty assist leading to an uncontested layup by Manaytay that practically wrapped up the crucial victory for the Magis Eagles with an insurmountable 61-51 lead with only 55 seconds left to play.

Though his other teammates also performed remarkably particularly Colonia, Travis Mantua, John Emmanuel Chen, and Wayne Bersaluna, Pastor was really the man of the hour for the Magis Eagles, who were also fired up by a large throng of cheering and drum-beating fans.

After the Junior Webmasters seized the lead 17-16 on a triple by Froilan Mangubat, Pastor scored six points in a 14-2 blitz that gave the Magis Eagles their biggest lead at 30-19 cushion with only 53 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

Flashing the same energy that carried them to a stunning 73-63 victory in the series opener, the Junior Webmasters countered with a searing 17-2 rally to regain the uppperhand, 36-62, but Chan came off the bench to provide the Magis Eagles the much-needed spark.

Just a few seconds after he was summoned to the court by coach Roel Rasmo, Chen dropped a 3-point bomb, then hit a looping jumper in a 7-2 swing that put the Magis Eagles back on top, 39-38, with two minutes remaining in the third.

Still, the Junior Webmasters fought back with savvy, wresting back the driver's seat at 47-46 on Mangubat's trey but that proved to be their last hurrah as Pastor took matters into his own hands, scoring eight straight points before Bersaluna completed a 3-point play in an 11-2 spurt that gave the Magis Eagles a heavy sigh of relief, 57-49, at the final 3:44 mark of the contest.

After John Bryl Cuyos broke their scoring drought and pushed UC within 51-57, Pastor converted another crucial layup, then issued a picture-perfect assist to Manaytay that summed up what had been a spectacular night for him.

Mantua backed up Pastor with 11 points, while Colonia added 10 points for the Magis Eagles. They will again face the Junior Webmasters in the winner-take-all Game 3 scheduled at 3 p.m. tomorrow.

Mangubat topscored with 18 points for the Junior Webmasters followed by Jason Abejo with 13 markers. The missing link were Luigi Gabisan and UC's 'boy wonder' Gelmart Umpad, who were held off to a paltry six points combined.  (FREEMAN)