The M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu City Jewelers hope to end their 2007 campaign with a big bang as they shoot for their second straight title in just a five-day span today in the 1st Mindanao Visayas Basketball Association (MVBA) Christmas Cup at the Cebu Coliseum.
Gametime is set at 7 pm, right after the battle for third place starting at 5:30 pm.
The Jewelers of Michel J. Lhuillier and coach Raul “Yayoy” D. Alcoseba will vie for the coveted championship of the four-day cagefest against the winner of other semifinal match between Arthro Kontra Arthritis and Holcim Pryce Pharma-MisOr Moneygram, which was still being completed as of this writing last night also at the Coliseum.
The loser of the Arthro-MisOr duel will face next Malabon-Spring Cooking Oil for the third place honors.
Malabon-Spring staved off early exit from the tournament after disposing off the Zamboanga City Latinos last night, 88-80.
The Latinos actually dictated the tempo of the match in the early goings, but had their last taste of lead at 47-45 on back-to-back baskets by top hitman Orlando Daroya midway through the third period.
Malabon-Spring countered with a searing 13-0 rally to suddenly rip the game apart, 58-47.
Zamboanga threatened for the last time, 52-58, as Malabon-MisOr staged its second wave of attack to mount its biggest lead of the day, 80-64, at the final 6:13 mark of the contest.
Nani Epondulan topped Malabon-Spring with 25 points followed by Mario Reyes with 16. Dondon Villamin and Danny Capobres each nailed 11 markers.
Daroya paced the Latino with 20 points.
The game marked the comeback of former Southwestern University (SWU) collegiate star Ronald Saracho from a seven-year hibernation in the commercial circuit.
After completing his playing years with SWU a decade ago, the 1995 CAAA (now CESAFI) MVP played for three years in the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) with Chowking (1997) and Shark Energy Drink (1999-2000).
Saracho planned to join the Iloilo Megavoltz in the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association in 2000 but it did not materialize as the Iloilo team disbanded.
Emboldened by his desire to seek greener pastures elsewhere other than shooting hoops, Saracho decided to enlist himself in the Philippine Army where he is presently a corporal serving at the Western Mindanao Command based in his hometown Zamboanga.
Saracho still has flashes of his old deadly form on the hardcourt, finishing with 14 points for the Latinos albeit for a losing cause.
The scores
Malabon-Spring (88) – Epondulan 25, Reyes 16,
Villamin 11, Capobres 11, De Castro 8, Yambao 6, Guiyab 4, Balneg 3, Cuenca 2, Tasonera 2
Zamboanga (80) – Daroya 20, Navarro 15, Saracho 14, Briones 10, Ramirez 7, Sebastian 7, Alvarez 5, Padrigao 4 — EBV