Terra Dolce, Shakey's battle for title

LOWER seeded teams Terra Dolce/Jollibee 1990/91/92 and Shakey's/New Energy Marketing 2008/10/11 arranged a titular showdown at 8 p.m. Thursday for the 5th SJI Alumni Basketball Friendship Cup at the Msgr. John B. Liu Activities Center.

No. 3 TD dominated No. 2 Phoenix 1999/2K from start to finish in scoring a convincing 77-45 victory, while No. 4 Shakey's came from behind and eliminated top seed Ceres Pasalubong 64-57.

The 1-2 punch combined output of TD's Peewee Demonteverde and Bol Manaloto outscored Phoenix, as they delivered 29 and 26 points, respectively.

From a 35-28 Jollibee lead at the break, TD limited Phoenix to 17 2nd half points to score the lopsided win, as the lead ballooned to more than 30 points in the 4th quarter.

TD also got production from Glenn Ortaliz and Dominic Ciocon with 6 points each.

Rhett Demonteverde paced Phoenix with 13 points, Bogs Ongsingco added 12 points and Paolo Li had 9 points.

In the 2nd game with Shakey's on top, 58-56, as 1:12 remain in the game, Alvin Dionela was assessed with 2 technical fouls, turning the tide for New Energy.

Younger brother Allen Dionela, who was playing for Shakey's, sunk 3 of 4 free throws to push the lead to 61-57 while Bren Tajonera made 1 of 2 charity shots for Ceres which prove to be the last point for the losing team.

Earlier, Ceres took a 17-9 opening quarter lead as Alvin Dionela and Bren Tajonera combined for 11 points.

Ceres continued to take a double-digit lead behind the inside plays and free throws of Brian Coo but a strong 2nd quarter windup by Luigi Coo with 5 straight points cut the lead to 29-24 at the break.

Mark Coo of Shakey's came out firing in the 3rd quarter, as they cut the lead to a point, but Brian Javelosa's 5 straight points kept the lead for Ceres at 34-32.

Ceres spearheaded by Renz Mendoza extended the lead anew to 45-37 but 4 straight points by New Energy drew the team closer at 45-41.

Luigi Coo's triple cut the deficit to 45-47, but Ceres' Raymund Lacson's trey brought the lead back to 5 points.

Allen Dionela assisted in two Charles Del Castillo undergoal baskets and Dionela started to connect on his jumpers, including a triple with 2:26 left to tie the game at 56 all.

Danty Ma's layup resulting from a broken play gave the lead to New Energy 36 seconds later at 58-56.

Ceres, missing 5 of 6 free throws in the last 1:36, including the technical fouls, doomed their finals chances as they are relegated to a 3rd place game against Phoenix at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Allen Dionela finished with 12 points with 8 points delivered in the 4thquarter, backstopped by Charles Del Castillo with 11 points, Mark Coo 10 points, Luigi Coo 8 points, Jappy Cuaycong 6 points and Ma with 5 points.

Daniel Ong who grabbed several rebounds finished with 4 points, the same output as that of Alec Arguelles.

Alvin Dionela led a balanced Ceres offensive with 9 points, Raymund Lacson, Martin Jalandoni and Brian Coo contributed 8 points each, Renz Mendoza and Tajonera 7 points each and Javelosa chipped in 5 points. (Stephen Tan/Contributor)