Tuesday, September 09, 2008 Lipa stalls Cebu’s win
THE M. Lhuillier-Cebu Niños winning streak was put to a screeching halt when they suffered a crushing defeat behind Lipa/Batangas Barakos, who came hot on its tail following an 83-74 decision in Game 3 of the Smart-Liga Pilipinas Playoffs at the Lipa Convention Center in Lipa City, Batangas Sunday evening.
Because of this, the series is now 1-2 to give the Barakos a new lease at life. Lipa was shooting to equalize the series as of press time last night.
Lipa banked on a blazing first quarter scoring run as they scorched the unsuspecting Niños by scoring 32 points against Cebu’s 10 points.
From a 22-points deficit, Cebu came back slowly, cutting down the lead down to eight 59-67 after outscoring the Barakos 49-35 in two quarters.
However, Cebu’s efforts to come up with a daring come-from-behind finish, was quashed in the final quarter as Lipa managed to keep its lead at a comfortable margin en route to the victory.
Although the Niños shot better at the field, 27-of-63 against Lipa’s 28-of-72 and grabbed more rebounds 45-36, Lipa dished more assists 17 compared to Cebu’s 12 and did better on defense—getting four steals against three and swatting five attempts against just one from Cebu.
Lipa’s defense also forced the Niños to commit 22 turnovers, which they converted into 16 turnover points. Lipa only had seven turnovers.
Mark Ababon topped Cebu scorers with 15 points, while Richard Ian Saladaga and Marlon Basco finished with 13 and 12 points respectively.
Jeffrey Sanders led Lipa as he scored 20 points in his 31 minute playtime, Al Vergara added 16 in 30 minutes, Don Camaso added 13 in 25 minutes, while Bon Custodio, who came off the bench scored 12 points to lead the Barakos to victory.
Meanwhile, in the other semifinals match, Misamis Oriental tied the series after pulling off a 76-68 win over Taguig Batang Global in Game 2 of their semifinal series at the CP Tinga Gym in Taguig City last Saturday.
Patrick Cabahug scored 25 points to lead Misamis Oriental Meteors, who are are looking to wrap up the series when they host Games 3 and 4 at the Xavier University Gym in Cagayan de Oro City. (RCM)
