Spring Cooking Oil trips Lhuillier in SEABA tiff

Spring Cooking Oil outlasted Guardo-M. Lhuillier, 98-95, yesterday in what could be a thrilling preview of the championship tussle in the Southeast Asian Basketball Champions Cup at the Cebu Coliseum.

Bobby Parks sank two crucial free throws and Joel Co split from the line in the final minute to provide the marginal marks for Spring which completed a four-game sweep of the eliminations.

The game was close from start to finish with neither team leading in double figures, the biggest at 75-68 for Spring after the third quarter.

The win gave the Oil Makers significant momentum going into today’s 5:30 p.m. winner-take-all final.

Guardo suffered its only loss after three straight wins. The Cebuanos formalized their entry into the final with a 109-78 whipping of Tong Whye Singapore on Wednesday night.

Singapore absorbed its third straight loss in this event supported by Osaka Iridology, Uniherb, Accel, YKL Films, Molten, Absolute Water, Burlington and PCSO.

"It may be an all-Filipino final but this will be an interesting match-up since Guardo is still considered a local team while Spring is from Manila. We all know the rivalry between Manila and Cebu teams," said Guardo team manager Jerry Guardo.