Wednesday, December 05, 2007 Mandaue beats Athro; meets MLKP in Visayas finals
THE CEBU Landmasters-Mandaue City survived the heat and constant pounding to move into the Visayas Division championship against the idle M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala Jewelers in a best-of-three championship series starting tonight at the Cebu Coliseum.
The Landmasters withered the challenge of Arthro Kontra Arthritis to win the last ticket to the finals, 72-64, and won their series, 2-1, last Monday at the Mandaue City Sports and Cultural Complex.
The Landmasters clamped down on the streak shooting Doroteo Almacin, who just scored two points after scoring 23 points on the first two games, to seal the win.
Bong Marata proved to be the best weapon of coach Jun Tan’s arsenal as he delivered in both ends of the court scoring 19 points and holding Almacin way below his series average.
It all started in the first quarter when Marata immediately scored eight to lead Mandaue City 20-9 at the end of the first quarter.
However, Arthro had an answer on the next quarter outscoring the host team 18-10 to move within 27-30 at the bend.
The game was intensely fought in the third period as was highlighted by the prolific scoring of Mike Mañigo of the Landmasters and Luther Luke Justiniani of Arthro that saw a more thrilling ending as the score settled at 49-50 entering the final period.
Pressure
However, the Landmasters did not budge under pressure and kept their defense solid and its offense fluid as the game slowly slipped away from Arthro’s grip.
Meanwhile, Holcim Pryce Pharma clinched the Mindanao Division title after beating top seed MP Warriors-Gensan 77-65 for its third appearance to the MVBA finals.
