Thursday, March 01, 2007 Atan buries Roel’s Foods, 110-82
AFTER clinching the championship of the Sambag I Christmas League and the recently concluded Cebu City Charter Cup cagefest, the powerhouse Atan Guardo ballclub primed itself for a grandslam finish in just a span of two months.
This after Atan smothered the hapless Roel’s Food, 110-82, at the start of the season-opening conference of the Labangon Sports Commission Open Invitational tournament at the Labangon Sports Complex.
The Atan squad parades the very same crew that pulled off a stunning 84-83 upset over the mighty M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala Jewelers to rule the Mindanao Visayas Basketball Association pre-season dubbed the “Cebu City Charter Cup” hoop last Friday at the Cebu Coliseum.
With its star-studded lineup composed of former and present members of the University of the Visayas Green Lancers, the region’s undisputed king of collegiate basketball, Atan is tipped this early as the hands on favorite to dominate the Labangon joust.
The high-leaping Morsie Akad and Vergel Abelong powered Atan Guardo with 20 points apiece, while 6-foot-8 skyscraper Rino Berame added 10 markers.
Jerome Gadiane, Alex Cainglet and man-mountain Joseph Ronald Quiñahan also connived for 25 markers for Atan Guardo, which never gave Roel’s Food some breathing space after racing to a hot 35-19 start.
Atan preserved its 16-point edge at halftime, 58-42, before further tearing the game apart with a 23-point advantage after three quarters, 83-60.
The wards of coach Al Solis kept its relentless offensive in the windup to come up with a 28-point cakewalk in the tournament supervised by commissioner Roland Quijano Dagatan. (JSV)
