Friday, October 20, 2006 Noval trey lifts Sirlitz past Maxxis, 76-75
CHRISTIAN Noval connected with a booming triple in the waning seconds to lift Sirlitz past Maxxis Tires, 76-75, in the quarterfinal round of the Eastern Division of the 7th Cebu Eastern College-Guardo Friendship at the CEC Gym.
The nail-biting victory allowed Sirlitz to stay alive in the tournament as it forged a winner-take-all match against the Tiremen, who previously enjoyed a twice-to-beat edge in the round.
Close
The game was closely fought from start to finish with neither able to seize control of the momentum, resulting to a 37-all deadlock at the half.
The Tiremen entered the final phase ahead by just one point, paving the way for another see-saw battle in the entire quarter until Maxxis managed to squirm ahead with a two-point edge in the last seconds of the game.
Defensive lapse
Noval, who finished with 12 markers, came to Sirlitz rescue in the return play as he took advantage of Maxxi’s momentary defensive lapse to bury the game-winning triple in the final 3.7 seconds.
Former University of San Carlos Warrior Bong Eleazar led all scorers of Sirlitz as he tallied 20 points, while Wendel Cenas and Ronald Mata added 12 and 10, respectively.
Maxxis was headed by ex-Cebu Doctors College White Stallion Michael Duran, who banged in 24 points.
In the other game, the higher-ranked Otto Merchandising prevented a rubbermatch in their own quarterfinals bid after eliminating JV Shop N’ Shop, 89-56, with Donald Anthony Ting towing Otto to victory with his 22-point production.
Erwin Ong and Darryl Tan added 15 and 11 points, respectively, for Otto. (JSV)
