THE Sherilin Red Arowanas and the AngelMary Pawnshop will be duking it out for the championship in the Metro Cebu Basketball League Season 5 Rad Teamwear Cup after they got past their respective semifinal opponents at the City Sports Club-Cebu on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2020.
The AngelMary Pawnshop breezed past Lite Shipping, 110-79, to book their spot in the finals on Sunday, March 1, 2020, while the Red Arowanas of businessman Richard Mercado dug down deep in overtime to prevail over the Hoopsters, 96-88.
The Hoopsters actually had the inside track on the win as they led, 79-77, but Japanese forward Shohei Horigo got fouled and calmly made two pressure-packed free-throws to tie the game up at 79-all with 39.4 seconds remaining. Sherilin regained possession and had a chance to win the game in regulation but Albert Ardiente missed on his jumper as time expired.
Sherilin though, found their second wind in the extra session, which they opened with two tough baskets from Ardiente for an 83-79 lead. The Hoopsters scored a free-throw but Sherilin rattled off 10 straight, thanks to transition baskets from John Velasco and Horigo and a pair of clutch three-pointers from Raymond Jimenez to seal the win and their ticket to the championship game.
Velasco, a burly yet athletic forward who once played for the Don Bosco Greywolves, led Sherilin with 25 points, six rebounds and two assists.
Meanwhile, Rex Tuazon continued his torrid scoring in the playoffs as he put up 24 markers in AngelMary’s dominant win in the semifinals. (JNP)