CEBU, Philippines - He's at it again, raining triples at will.
Chester Cokaliong bombarded 17 treys of his tournament-high 53 points as Pilipinas Shell '80s annihilated First ACY Shipping 2006, 108-64, in the Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association's 12th Dr. Chen Lieh Fu Memorial Cup last Thursday night at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.
So explosive Cokaliong was that he immediately knocked in five 3-point daggers in the first quarter to power Class '80s to a rousing 24-16 start.
The red-hot Cokaliong, who shot a spectacular 17-of-24 from beyond the arc, fired eight more triples - including five straight - in the third period where they outgunned the younger graduates, 34-14, to blow up their lead to a mind-boggling 46 points, 85-39, entering the final 10-minute zone of the contest.
Cokaliong, who went 2-of-3 from the foul line, got huge support from the rest of his teammates, with Stephen Tan cashing in 20 points on top of eight rebounds and five assists.
Chester's younger brother Christopher Cokaliong had a solid double-double show of 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Joel Chan nearly missed what could have been a second straight triple-double performance, finishing with nine points on top of season-highs 19 rebounds and 17 assists.
Ryan Alexis Mendez added 10 points as Shell '80s evened its record to 2-2, while handing the hapless Class 2006 its third consecutive defeat.
In the other game, Rex Millan charted 25 points on top of eight rebounds, while Paul Timothy So added 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists as 3R Audio '98 slammed Young Builders '91, 71-49.
Erick Andrew So added 12 points, four rebounds and two assists as Class '98 readily bounced back from its season-opening 96-64 loss to Class '80s last January 13.
After closing the first half with a 35-25 lead, Class '98 kept its sizzling offensive in the final half to come up with a 22-point blowout.
The scores
First game
Class '80s (108) - Ches. Cokaliong 53, S. Tan 20, Chris. Cokaliong 13, Mendez 10, Chan 9, Yu 2, Chioson 1
Class 2006 (64) - Dy 24, Yap 13, R. Tan 8, L. Tan 8, Nuñez 5, Tiu 3, Sungapo 3
Second game
Class '98 (71) - Millan 25, P. So 15, E. So 12, Evangelista 8, Yap 4, Yu 3, Lim 2, Go 2
Class '91 (49) - Yu 16, C. Go 11, E. Go 8, Ty 6, J. Lim 4, Crisologo 2, Co 2 (FREEMAN)