Tuesday, December 18, 2007 Aying, Cavan boil up Spring Oil
TEAM skipper Danny Aying and swingman Gerry Cavan came off the bench to become the instant sparkplugs for the M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala as they opened the 2007 MVBA Christmas Cup Invitational tournament with a 93-77 bashing of the Spring Cooking Oil-Tagaytay yesterday at the Cebu Coliseum.
After Bruce Dacia scored the first basket of the tournament, Spring gained the upperhand as they held the Cebu team at bay for the next nine minutes to keep a shaky 16-13 lead at the end of the first half.
Catching up
Tagaytay continued to play tough game early in the second, but after Don Villamin gave the team a 26-19 lead at the 6:46 mark, the Jewelers quickly made their move. Aying scored two triples and Cavan capped a 15-0 run with a triple as the Jewelers moved into a 34-26 lead with 3:35 left before the bend.
Stunned by the sudden turn of events, Spring Tagaytay quickly called a time out but it did no good as the Jewelers outscored the visitors 9-7 for a 43-35 lead at the half.
The halftime break did nothing good for Spring as the Jewelers continued on its scoring rampage to erect a 24-point lead 70-46 32 seconds remaining in the penultimate quarter.
With the game of Tagaytay already in check and the momentum of the game clearly going their way, the Jewelers relaxed bit in the final frame and all the Spring Cooking Oil could do was to cut down the deficit to 16 until the final period.
Finishers
Ron Capati topscored for the Jewelers with 18 points, while Cavan and Aying finished with 11 points each. Villamin scored 18 followed by Nani Epondulan with 17 and Ariel de Castro finished with 12 for the losing Spring Tagaytay squad.
Today, the Jewelers will try to barge into the knockout championship as they play the untested Zamboanga del Norte squad in the opening game at 4:30 while Holcim Pryce Misamis Oriental and Pagadian City Explorers play in the main game at 6 p.m.
The four-day tournament will have the No.1 of the Bracket A playing against the top team in Bracket B for the knockout championship on Thursday. The No.2 squads will battle for the third place finish.
