CEBU, Philippines - Guadalupe ruled the Mambaling Invitational basketball tournament after scoring a precarious 108-105 victory over Inayawan in the rubbermatch of their best-of-three finals at the Mambaling Sports Complex.
Once again, Alex Cainglet paced Guadalupe to earn the nod of tournament organizers led by Conor Cup commissioner Danny Duran as the league MVP. Cainglet finished with a game-high 23 points.
Wilson Gabucan was also unstoppable from the field as he chipped in 22 points, but it was the hot hands of Michael Almonte who did the heaviest damage as he drilled in five triples of his 19-point contribution. Two other Guadalupe cagers Kurt Cosido and Angelmar Gacho added 19 and 18 points, respectively.
Guadalupe made a smart move in the fourth period where they posted their largest lead of seven points, 93-86. They never gave up despite repeated comeback attempts by Inayawan.
Former UC star Allain Abellanosa charted 22 points for Inayawan, while ex-CIT Wildcat Joseph Guangco scored 21 in a losing effort.
Guadalupe took home 12,000, while Inayawan got P8,000.
The event was made possible through the support of Conor Forwarders led by its Cebu manager Olive Paraguas.
The scores
Guadalupe (108) - Cainglet 23, Gabucan 22, Almonte 19, Cosido 19, Gacho 18, Lopena 2, Minoza 2
Inayawan (105) - Abellanosa 22, Guangco 21, Bacalso 17, Huybiar 16, Cabrera 10, Cabo 9, Baguio 6, Jueves 2
Halftime: 59-55 (FREEMAN)