The FREEMAN/DYLA breezes past SunStar in NBAC cage wars

Sweet-shooting pointguard Roel "Lightning" Labrador fired a career-high 22 points to power the merged forces of The Freeman/DYLA to a 50-45 conquest of three-time champion SunStar Daily in the 2nd Newsmen Basketball Association of Cebu (NBAC) Gov. Gwen Garcia Cup last Sunday at the Talamban Sports Complex.

After racing to a 6-2 start, The Freeman/DYLA of NBAC president Fred Languido toned down offensively, allowing SunStar to dictate the momentum of the match with a 16-10 lead.

That was not for long though as Labrador provided some spark to his teammates by knocking in a buzzer-beating triple to pull The Freeman/DYLA within 13-16 after the first 10 minutes of play.

Using his speed and well-calculated sniping, Labrador unloaded 10 markers in a blistering 17-7 second quarter run to hand The Freeman/DYLA its biggest lead of seven points at the intermission, 30-23.

Power-playing center Manny "The Tank" Villaruel later joined the scoring spree, scoring six of his 14 points in the third quarter to help The Freeman/DYLA protecta five-point edge, 36-31, entering the final 10-minute mark of the contest.

SunStar could only tie the count at 38-all with two minutes left to play as Labrador made things happen for The Freeman/DYLA not only for his steady outside shooting, but also for his sharp quarterbacking towards the closing seconds of the game.

The Freeman/DYLA matched its biggest lead at 50-43 as Labrador hit a long-range jumper and later on completed a three-point play before Eric Carlos drilled in crucial free throws to break the backs of SunStar.

Also to be given credit were Edwin Ian Melecio, Paul Jun E. Rosaroso and Bong Millanes as The Freeman/DYLA evened its win-loss record to 1-1.

Sun.Star was led by league returnee Jun Migallen and Jade Violeta with 13 points apiece. Efren Lonzon had 12 points, while Jaime Frias was held off to only two points in his NBAC debut.

In the other game, Bantay Radyo posted a lopsided 74-57 win over ABS-CBN Kapamilya, 74-57, while Cebu Daily News blasted ABC/Bombo Radyo, 70-53.

The scores

The Freeman/DYLA (50) - Labrador 22, Villaruel 14, Melecio 6, Millanes 4, Carlos 3, Rosaroso 1.

SunStar (45) - Migallen 13, Violeta 13, Lonzon 12, Aclao 5, Frias 2 (EIM/EBV)