MisOr stuns Cebu in opener

CEBU, Philippines - Beating Cebu at its hometurf has somehow become a habit of MisOr.

Game today (Cebu Coliseum)

Game 2, Finals

6 pm Cebu vs.MisOr

The MisOr Meteors lost a 14-point lead in the third quarter, but played tough defense and rode on the bigtime plays by Mark Andaya towards the end of the game to stun the M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu Niños, 90-87, in the opener of their best-of-five finals series for the Tournament of the Philippines (TOP) title last night at the Cebu Coliseum.

”I’m very happy. I can’t explain my feeling right now. The boys responded well to my challenge,” said an ecstatic MisOr coach Jun Noel.

Patrick Cabahug had a near perfect outside shooting, drilling in seven triples of his game-high 25 points for the Meteors. Reed Friar Juntilla added 19 markers, while Neil Rañeses banged in 17 markers for the Meteors, who dictated the tempo of the match from the outset.

The Meteors, who shackled the Niños with their stonewell defense, led by 14 points twice, the last was at 58-44 as the Niños replied with a 23-7 blast to snatch the upperhand briefly, 67-65, on a free throw by Stephen Padilla with a minute left in the third quarter.

The Meteors countered with an 11-0 blitz bridging the third and fourth period to regain control, 76-67, with just a minute gone by in the final canto.

From that point on, the two protagonists engaged in an intense exchange of shots, with the Niños tying the count at 87-all on Marlon Masco’s triple with 1:25 left to play. After Andaya hit two free throws to make it 89-87, the Niños had a chance to grab the lead, but Stephen Padilla muffed a hurried 3-pointer that went airball.

When the score stood at 90-87, the Niños had a chance to forge an overtime, but guard Froilan Baguion’s triple bounced off the rim as the gameclock expired.

The Niños hope to bounce back from that heart-rending defeat as they host the Meteors anew in Game 2 at 6pm today still at the same venue. – THE FREEMAN