Sweet double championship for CEC Dragons in Online caging

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu Eastern College Dragons basked in the glow of a double championship glory in the Omega Pro and Casino Active-backed Online Cup developmental basketball tournament last Sunday at the CEC gym.

CEC's triumph did not come in handy as the Baby Dragons had to pass through some scary moments before getting rid of the hard-fighting PPCBA Selection by the slimmest of margins, 61-60, to take home the 12-under crown.

Ahead by only four points at halftime, 33-29, Melino Casio along with Leopoldo and Tecson conspired in a sizzling third-quarter rally to hand CEC its biggest lead of 14 points.

The PPCBA cagers, however, staged a big turnaround in the closing minutes of the contest to erase the deficit and eventually wrest the driver's seat, 58-57, behind the efforts of Longakit, Canasa and Magan with 1:20 left to play.

Tecson and Pada, however, connected crucial hits when it mattered most to lift the Easternians to a nerve-wracking win.

Casio topped CEC with 15 points, but it was his consistent play in the entire duration of the tournament that earned him the coveted MVP trophy. Leopoldo and Tecson ably backed him up with 18 points combined.

It was a sweet twinkill for coach Rodmark del Rosario as CEC dumped Thumb-Ups, manned mostly by players from the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U), 74-60, to reign supreme in the juniors division.              

After a close encounter in the early goings, CEC broke away with a 15-point advantage at the intermission, 38-23. The Thumbs-Up side could only pull within five points, 53-58, enabling CEC to cruise through a convincing victory.

Edmundo Bayhonan exploded with 21 points for the CEC Junior Dragons to become the runaway choice as regular season MVP.

The scores

12-under class

CEC (61) - Casio M. 15 Leopoldo 11 Tapic 10, Tecson 8, Baruc 4, Pada 4, Casio L. 3, Corona 2, Gaviola 2

PPCBA (60) - Longakit 18, Canasa 13, Magan 11, Tabar 5, Baric 3, Belarmino 2, Padigos 2, Eccasinas 2, Zabate 2

Juniors division

CEC-Online (74) - Bayhonan 21, Saavedra 19, Alviso 10, Zosa 8, Bacho 5, Berdera 4, Legaspi 3, Tallo 2, Mangyao 2

Thumbs-Up (60) - Singson 24, Jabines 13, Suson 5, Patindol 4, Caminse 4, Alarcon 3, Tabada 3, Patrimonio 2, Empleo 2 (FREEMAN)