Monday, July 28, 2008 Cebu Niños battle Pagadian in finals
THE steaming rivalry between two south powerhouses the M. Lhuillier-Cebu Niños and the Pagadian Explorers continue to flourish after the No.1 and the No.2 teams defeated their separate semifinal opponents in the Iloilo Leg of the 2008 Liga Pilipinas Championships at the Pototan Astrodome in Iloilo.
The Niños went through nine deadlocks and four lead changes before pulling a 90-84 win over the Quezon Red Oilers, while Pagadian stayed tough all night long to frustrate the home team Iloilo Mang Inasals, 77-65.
Cebu survived some rough moments against the hard-fighting Red Oilers but after the last deadlock at 83-all with four minutes left to play, the Niños went for the kill with Mark Ababon igniting the end-game blitz with an unmolested layup at the 3:11 mark.
Quezon did not score a field goal in the last four minutes in the game.
Bruce Dacia again paced the Niños to victory, scoring 22 points on top of seven rebounds and six assists, while Stephen Padilla scored all of his 18 points from the three point area. (RCM)
