Monday, June 11, 2007 Iligan shocks Misamis Oriental
ILIGAN CITY -- The Iligan Archangels shocked heavily-favored defending champion Holcim Pryce Pharma-MisOr, 87-85, in game one of the best-of-three Mindanao Division Finals of the 2007 Mindanao Visayas Basketball Association (MVBA) First Conference last Friday at the noisy MSU-IIT Gym.
Point guard Von Harry Lanete atoned for his near-fatal miscues by burying a triple with 18 seconds left to put the Archangels of Mayor Lawrence Ll. Cruz and Coach Mike Reyes on top for good, 86-85. In the previous one-minute span, Lanete missed two free throws and committed a traveling violation in what could have pushed his side to the lead much earlier.
In the ensuing sequence, MisOr could only watch helplessly as new recruit Dennis Concha bungled two free throws off the final foul of Jan Malinao at the 10-second mark.
Mark Abadia grabbed the defensive rebound and drew the last foul of Randy Sevilla. Abadia then gave the robust crowd some anxious moments by missing his first free throw but made the second to settle the final tally.
With Coach Bong Abad out of timeouts, MisOr fired a quick inbound pass to Mark Ababon who missed a twisting lay-up at the buzzer that could have forced an extra period.
Employing a torrid scoring pace and an unforgiving defense, the Archangels scored their first 25 markers in the first five minutes en route to taking the first quarter, 30-19.
MisOr with team owner and league chairman Gov. Oscar S. Moreno in attendance clawed back behind the good plays of Anton Viloria and big men Randy Sevilla and Franklin Nailon. Both teams battled through eight deadlocks and five lead changes in the second half alone.
Carlos Sayon scored 11 of his team-best 21 points in the opening quarter to lead the Archangels. Abadia followed with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Viloria topped MisOr with 25 markers, 11 coming in the fourth quarter, followed by Ababon and Nailon with 13 each.
Newly-crowned Visayas Division champion Arthro Kontra Arthritis of sports patron Jonathan "Atan" Guardo and Coach Al Solis will face the winner of the series in another best-of-three affair for the MVBA championship made possible by ML Kwarta Padala, Converse and Gatorade and also with the help of Nature's Spring Water, Sulpicio Lines, Ocean Jet, Parklane Hotel, Red Horse, Yayoy's Grill, Gameface.Ph and Nike Basketball. Accel, Cokaliong Shipping, Holiday Plaza Hotel, Trans-Asia Shipping and Reva Sandals have also thrown in their support.
MisOr and Iligan were completing Game Two last night (June 9) at the Xavier University Gym in Cagayan de Oro. MisOr badly needs a victory to force a deciding Game Three, tentatively set for today at the Xavier Gym anew starting at 6:00 pm. On the other hand, an Iligan triumph will give the franchise its very first trip to the MVBA Finals.
