THE M. Lhuillier-Cebu Niños shot 39-of-74 from the field en route to taking a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five quarterfinal series after a one-sided 99-73 win over the Trace Laguna Stallions in Game 2 of the 2008 Liga Pilipinas Smart Playoffs at the Cebu Coliseum last night.
Using different starters from Game 1, the quintet of Rino Berami, Marlon Basco, Gerry Cavan, Jayford Rodriguez and Woodraw Enriquez responded well as they dropped an early 10-2 blitz before the quarter ended with Cebu leading 27-14.
The only time Laguna had the lead was at Jerwin Gaco’s opening basket at 9:25 mark. From there, it was all Cebu’s game with the Niños using an 11-0 run to start the second quarter and building a 20-point lead along the way.
Cebu outclassed the Stallions from all angles, out-rebounding the visiting squad 43-30. They also had the advantage in assists (20-8), steals (4-1), shot blocks (2-1) and in turnovers (8-13).
The Niños also was ahead 10-7 in fastbreak points.
Ron Capati came off the bench to lead Cebu scorers with 17 points. Gaco, on the other hand, scored 19 for Laguna.
Cebu will try to end the series on Wednesday as they visit the Stallions at the Trace College Gym in Los Baños, Laguna.
Meanwhile, the Misamis Meteors survived a tough game to lead 2-0 over the No.2 seed Pagadian Explorers following an 84-81 win in Game 2 in the opening game.
The Meteors will try to end the series at the Xavier University Gym on Monday as they host Games 3 and 4.
Dondon Tadena lead MisOr with 17 points, while Mark Kong topped Pagadian with 15.
A day after losing the series opener without a fight, Pagadian struggled without its star player Mark Yee for the first three quarters. Yee played in the fourth and scored 11 points, but that was not enough to salvage the Game for the Explorers. (RCM)
