Tigers shock Blue Devils in CSCC E-League conference semis

CEBU, Philippines – The Wipro Tigers stunned the previously undefeated Convergys 2 Blue Devils, 68-60, even as the Teleperformance Vipers (formerly Aegis), Lexmark Stallions, and ePerformax Reds also took a 1-0 upstarts in the best-of-three conference semifinals of the 10th CSCC E-League men's basketball tournament last Saturday at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.

Dan Doroteo Pestaño had 14 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals for Wipro, which bucked off a sluggish start to pull off what is by far the biggest upset of the season that saw the Blue Devils' 11-game winning streak come to a sudden red stop.

Wipro trailed by nine early on, 14-23, but launched a 18-8 run in the second period to grab the upperhand at halftime, 32-31. Convergys 2 grabbed the lead back using an 18-9 blitz, but Wipro responded with a blistering 27-11 rally in the windup to send the Blue Devils crashing back to earth.

Pol Klinton Alfeche chipped in 13 points,  six rebounds, four steals and three assists, while Emmanuel Auman hit a dozen markers laced with 13 rebounds and two assists for Wipro, which needed only one more victory to barge into the conference finals for the first time.

Clifford Amarado had 16 points, but got support only from Sherwin Resilla with 12 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for Convergys 2, which now realized that nothing is unstoppable in the league afterall.

In the other games, the Lexmark Stallion rode on the last-sesond heroics of Jan Sahilan to stop Accenture Sharks, 62-59, the Teleformance Vipers easily whacked the Convergys 1 Wolves, 64-39, while the ePerformax Reds subdued the SSI Warriors, 66-58, to also move a win why from the advancing to the conference finals.

With the score tied at 59-all with only 11 seconds left to play, Accenture had the ball possession, but Archie Batua missed on a potential game-winning drive. Lexmark's Franco Angelo Cipriano got the rebound and quickly made a lob pass to Sahilan on the other side of the court. Sahilan converted a basket with no time remaining plus a foul from Michael Adrian Cam. He calmly completed his three-point play for the final outome.

Sahilan finished with only nine points bur spelled big difference for Lexmark, which was topscored by Niel Tiempo with 18 points, three rebounds and two steals. Edwin Bibera also deserved a hearty pat on his back after finishing with 10 points, 11 rebounds, six blocks, two assists and two steals in a sterling show of hardcourt dexterity.

On the other hand, Ryan Veloso paced Teleperformance with 14 points, five rebounds and two assists, while man mountain Robert Gilo topped ePerformax's scoring chart with 18 points, eight rebounds and two steals.

Teleperformance was never threatened after jumping off to a hot 18-5 start, while ePerformax was in control full control after cruising to a 32-23 lead at halftime. — EBV) (FREEMAN)