THE Cebu City Sharks-Casino Ethyl Alcohol got a huge boost from their “sixth man”--the droves of fans that showed up to cheer them on--and captured just their second win, a 70-66 upset of Makati Skyscrapers, in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) last Saturday night at the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Basak campus gym.
“The crowd gave us huge support,” said Sharks head coach Cholo Villanueva. “The crowd made us alive. This is our home and my players showed a lot of pride in defending it. If it wasn’t here at home, we would have collapsed.”
After an exhilarating introduction of its starting five in the team’s first home game, the Sharks came out swinging and immediately took a 20-9 lead at the end of the first quarter in an offense led by lanky Raffy Octobre.
Cebu City maintained its lead in the second quarter with huge plays by William McAloney down low. John Patrick Cabahug, a huge fan-favorite, hit a three-pointer just before halftime to make it a 12-point advantage, 37-25.
The Sharks dominated the third quarter and led by as much as 20 points, 54-34. The Skyscrapers, however, trimmed it down to 17 points going into the fourth quarter after Vincent Importante converted both of his free throws near the end of the third period.
The Sharks became complacent in the fourth quarter, and Makati took advantage of it. The Skyscrapers started the fourth with a 12-2 run, led by former PBA player Mark Isip and Joseph Manlangit, to cut down the Sharks’ lead to 60-53.
Cabahug hit back-to-back three-pointers to the delight of the crowd and brought the lead back up to 13 points, 66-63. But Makati answered with an 11-2 rally, sparked by Isip and Rudy Lingganay, and made it a 68-64 ball game with less than a minute left.
Cebu City got a huge break after Isip was called for a pushing foul on McAloney in a battle for a rebound. McAloney calmly hit both of his free throws to seal the game with 20.2 seconds remaining.
“We were a bit complacent and relaxed on our defense. They changed their play by playing more on post ups,” said Villanueva. “We had a tendency to get lost. I told them to slow down, cross the ball in the middle and set the play. That’s what usually happens to us, we collapse in the fourth quarter. But we overcame it.”
Cabahug led Cebu City with 22 points and seven rebounds. McAloney had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Cedric Ablaza and Jerald Bautista had 10 apiece for Makati.
Cebu City improved to 2-8, while Makati fell to 6-4.
On the other hand, Zamboanga Valientes Family’s Brand Sardines defeated Basilan Steel, 94-80, in the opening game that featured some Cebuano players.
Cebuano Reed Juntilla, who had a big group of family and friends cheering him on, had a huge night for the Valientes with 26 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Rudy Onde Jr. added 14, while another Cebuano Von Lañete contributed with 11.
Cebuano veteran Jojo Tangkay led Basilan with 19 markers, eight boards, six assists and a steal. Ferdinand Lusdoc also scored 19, Jonathan Belorio added 12, while big men Dennis Daa and John Foronda chipped in 10 each.
Zamboanga improved to 5-5, while Basilan dropped to 4-7. (EKA)