Niños vs Red Oilers for MisOr leg title

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The defending National Champion M. Lhuillier-Cebu Niños and the Quezon Red Oilers survived a pair of thrillers, fittingly on a Friday the 13th, to arrange a titular showdown for the Misamis Oriental Leg of the 2009 Smart Liga Pilipinas Conference II at the jam-packed Xavier University Gym.

The Niños leaned on a jumper by reigning Liga MVP Marlon Basco to shatter a 58-58 deadlock with 40 seconds to go, 60-58. The Meteors tried to recover but Mark Moreno missed a triple and Mark Ababon snared the defensive rebound plus a foul. Not yet in the penalty situation, the Meteors were forced to foul Stephen Padilla, sending the veteran shooter to the free throw line at the 14-second mark.

Padilla missed the first but made the second. Meteors coach Jun Noel called a timeout and the ball went to Joey Mente, who fired an off-balanced triple that was eventually batted out of bounds by Bruce Dacia with two ticks to go. The Meteors burned their final timeout. Jerome Paterno took a quick heave from way beyond the arc that went nowhere, leaving the Meteors out of leg finale for the first time and marking the first back-to-back losses for the team this conference. The Niños registered a clean sweep of the preliminary round and picked up a two-Liga Tour point bonus for doing so.

Woodraw Enriquez opened the fourth period with back-to-back triples that pushed the Niños to their biggest lead, 52-41. However, Mark Kong led a spirited rally by the Meteors, capped by a Moreno triple with a minute to play that tied the game for the last time, 58-58.

Basco recovered from his scoreless output the night before with 16 points and eight rebounds. Dacia added 14 points. Mark Yee led the Meteors of Gov. Oscar Moreno with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Kong submitted eight of his 10 points in the fourth period.

In the first game, the Quezon Red Oilers needed an extra five minutes to eliminate the Iloilo Mang Inasals, 90-88. An unlikely hero emerged in center Arden Guiyab, who nailed the winning basket from the left corner with four seconds to play. Iloilo coach Jerry Jaranilla called a timeout but Stanley Tizon launched a hurried triple that went nowhere.

Earlier, Guiyab gave the Red Oilers a two-point edge with a free throw off the final foul of Francis Barcellano, 88-86, and 1:11 on the clock. Eugene Tan then tied the game for the last time at the 26-second mark on two free throws off the fifth and final foul of Hafer Mondragon, 88-88.

Ramsey Williams forced the overtime by making a free throw with still 1:41 left in regulation. Both teams lapsed into a series of errors to set the stage for the overtime.

Roberts Labagala paced the Red Oilers of Gov. Raffy Nantes and Coach Oliver Bunyi with 17 points while Jorel Canizares added 14. Jojo Laborte led the Mang Inasals of Robert Uy with 20 points but shot only six out of 14 from the free throw stripe. Sanny Abaring followed with 15 markers.

The Niños and Red Oilers faced off for the Manila Leg crown last February 21, with the Niños of Michel Lhuillier and Coach Raul “Yayoy” Alcoseba prevailing, 93-84. Both teams shoot for their second leg title this conference supported by Smart, ML Kwarta Padala, Accel, Burlington, Air 21, Nature’s Spring, Laptop Phoneshop Exchange and Molten and supervised by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP). ­­­–THE FREEMAN