Eleven Degrees upset Ceres

ELEVEN Degrees 96/97/98 pulled out a huge victory over defending champ Ceres Pasalubong 71-65, while Petron 2001/02/12 improved its quarterfinal chances by routing Raga Raga 2003/04/05 79-53 last Tuesday in the 5th SJI Alumni Basketball Friendship Cup at the Msgr. John Liu Activity Center.

Eleven Degrees stopped the winning streak of Ceres spanning two undefeated championship seasons and five straight games this season.

Phoenix 99/2k remains the only undefeated team in the tourney.

Keith Banzon sunk 3 treys and Alvin Dionela added 7 points, as Ceres went ahead in the 1stquarter, 18-15.

Siote Diente bullied his way in the shaded area, getting away with 10 points leading Eleven Degrees to a 34-32 halftime lead, even as Raymund Lacson and Brian Coo combined for 14 points for Ceres.

Ceres outscored Eleven Degrees but latter continued to remain on top going to the 4thquarter at 51-50 buoyed by its 3-point shooting in the quarter.

Ceres momentarily grabbed the lead in the 4th quarter behind Brian Coo but the free throw shooting woes of Ceres yielded the lead back to 11 Degrees.

Coo had 11 points but was countered by Dino Tongco who carried 11 Degrees in majority of the quarter in the low post, tallying 10 points on 6 of 6 from the charity stripe.

But it was Tim Garrucho who bailed out Eleven, as his shot clock buzzer beating triple with about a minute left in the game gave them a 4-point lead. He followed it up by making 3 of 4 from the free throw line to complete the upset victory.

Tongco finished with 19 points, Garrucho added 16 points and Diente scored 12 points.

Brian Coo and Raymund Lacson canned 17 points, each and Alvin Dionela picked up 11 points

In the nightcap, Petron limited Raga Raga to 18 halftime points while scoring 39 points behind Marcelino Tan's 17 second quarter points, as Clarence Quingco and Lacson chipped in 7 points apiece.

Mark Vasquez and Joel Bacabac sparked the rally for Raga Raga and cut the lead down to less than 20 points, but Ralph Ong's towering presence, even scoring 8 points in one stretch, extended the Petron lead to 59-33.

Tan topscored with 21 points, Joshua Co contributed 13 points, Migs Estrella had 12 points and Ong with 11 points.

Vasquez tallied 10 points in a losing effort, Bacabac and Michael Sian had 8 points each and Marco Ongsingco delivered 7 points. (Stephen Tan/Contributor)