Ceres survives Petron challenge

Ceres Pasalubong 2006/07 remained in 2nd place surviving the challenge of Petron 2001/02/12 70-68, while Waterfull/Celcor 93/94/95 routed the Legends (89 & earlier)/2009 104-79 in the 5th SJI Alumni Basketball Friendship Cup at the Msgr. John Liu Activities Center.

Ceres was in the driver’s seat in the 1st quarter 15-12, as Keith Banzon made 2 treys and Alvin Dionela scored 5 points.

In the 2nd quarter, Brian Coo scored 13 points for Ceres but it was not enough to protect the lead as the trio of Joshua Co Ralph Ong and Marcelino Tan combined for 23 points to give Petron the upperhand at halftime 38-34.

The offense of both teams took a breather in the 3rd quarter as Petron remained on top 49-48.

In the payoff quarter, Petron played catch-up to Ceres and was able to tie Ceres twice. However, the 13 team fouls in the quarter incurred by Petron proved to be the difference for Ceres 6th victory in 7 games.

It was a battle of the frontline in the 4th quarter, with Martin Jalandoni tallying 9 points and Coo providing support with 5 points while Ralph Ong  delivered 9 points for Petron, including the last basket as time expired cutting the deficit to 2 points.

Ceres was spearheaded by the 18 points of Coo, backed up by Jalandoni with 13 points, Raymund Lacson 12, Dionela and Bren Tajonera with 7 points each.

Joshua Co finished with 16 points, backstopped by Ong with 15 points, Marcelino Tan 10 points, Jan Jan Young and Robert Genovea with 6 points each.

Waterfull, after suffering 5 straight losses, improved their quarterfinal chances after registering 2 straight wins. Three other teams, namely Raga Raga, Legends/2009 and Petron also have two wins and only one team will be eliminated.

The Legends/2009 took the 1st quarter 23-21 bannered  by Omay Demonteverde with 8 points and Aljon Diolaso’s 6 points while Wilford Sy and Monroe Chua paced Celcor with 6 points each.

The Legends/2009 were still in the lead at 34-26 in the 2nd quarter but the Waterfull  offense clicked in all fronts, making their 3-pointers, offensive putbacks and fastbreak attacks plus the savvy quarterbacking of Vincent Javelosa, pushed Celcor in the lead at the break at 46-40.

In the 2nd half, the offense of the Legends /2009 continued to sputter while Celcor, with their confidence growing in every play, continued to dominate and pull away in the game.

Julius Teruel paced Celcor with 19 points, Christian Castro added 14 points, Mark Cueva scored 13 points, Javelosa picked up 12 points, Monroe Chua shot 10  points, Michael Ang had 9, Sy with 8 points, Tubby Villanueva shot  8 points  and Alex Fernandez had 6 points.

Wilson Gamboa Jr. paced the Legends/2009 with 18 points, Demonteverde
added 17 points, Richard Uy shot 14 points and Diolaso contributed 13 points.(Stephen Tan)