Tuesday, October 17, 2006 Sugbu absorbs 3rd loss in NBC
INAUGURAL champions Tribu Sugbu suffered another defeat in the 2006 Spring Cooking Oil-NBC National Cup as they bowed down to their arch-nemesis, Ozamiz Cotta, in a nailbiting 91-87 come-from-behind win at the jampacked Cantilan Gym in Cantilan, Surigao del Sur over the weekend.
The loss, which was the Arthro/Skygo-backed Tribu Sugbu’s third in four games, was doubly sad for the Cebuanos as their tragedy was dealt by another Cebuano and ex-PBA cager Bruce Dacia, who teamed up with last year’s MVP Marlon Basco in breaking the backs of the Tribesmen in the endgame.
After trailing in the first three quarters, Ozamis finally leveled the count at 87-all after a trey from Lou Gatumbato entering the last two minutes of the game.
Miscue
Tribu Sugbu, instead of recovering from the miscue, allowed themselves to crumble under pressure as they allowed the Cotta dribblers to score four more unanswered points in the ensuing plays including the go-ahead undergoal stab of Basco, which gave Ozamis the lead.
The former University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers standout, Dacia, who played for the Air21 Express in the PBA, Dacia iced the game with two free throws.
It was a frustrating defeat for the Jonathan Guardo and Lito Gillamac-owned Tribu Sugbu, who looked very tough at the onset as they erected a 30-14 lead after the first quarter.
With veteran guard Joel Co and Ronaldo Bucao taking on the scoring cudgels, Tribu Sugbo managed to control all but the final two minutes of the game.
Basco topscored for Ozamis with 20 points while Co led Tribu’s offense with 18 markers.
