Meteors streak past Niños in Liga Game 1

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY , Philippines  – The top seed and host Misamis Oriental Meteors squandered a 20-point lead but hung tough down the stretch to repel the defending National Champion M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu Niños, 70-64, in Game One of the Smart Liga Pilipinas Conference II national finals Tuesday at the Xavier University gym.

The Meteors drew strength from the home crowd to dominate the Niños in the early going but had to toughen up in the end to complete the win to gain the headstart in their best-of-five series. It was also the first loss of the Niños in the playoffs after sweeping the Ilocos Sur Bravehearts and Trace Laguna Stallions in the first two rounds.

“We needed this win to put a little dent on the confidence of Cebu and boost our own. We know we can match up with them but we have to play 40 solid minutes every game,” said MisOr head coach Jun Noel.  

The Meteors raced to a 20-8 lead after one period and padded this to as many as 20 points, 42-22, early in the third quarter on a Mark Moreno jumper.

But the Niños fought back behind Woodraw Enriquez and Ariel Mepana while their defense forced a series of Meteors turnovers to close the gap at 44-52 entering the fourth quarter.

Mark Ababon then ignited a 13-4 Cebu run as the Niños grabbed the lead for the first time at 57-56, 5:46 left in the contest.

The Meteors countered and grabbed back the advantage with an 8-1 run of their own but the Ninos kept up the pressure with Bruce Dacia adding another triple followed by a Marlon Basco free throw to threaten for the last time, 62-64, and 2:34 remaining. Ramil Tagupa then answered with a basket but it was a big Moreno triple with 41 ticks to play that broke the Ninos’ backs, 69-64.

“This series will be won by pure gut and desire. If we blink, we lose. We just have to hold court and hope we don’t have to go to Cebu to win the crown,” Noel added.

The win marked the first time the Meteors won a series opener in this conference supported by Smart, ML Kwarta Padala, Accel, Air 21, Burlington, Pagcor Sports, Laptop Phoneshop Exchange, Nature’s Spring Water and Molten and sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).  

Yee, the leading contender for the Most Valuable Player award, again powered the Meteors with 19 points and nine rebounds. Erian Daja followed with 12 points. Dacia and Mepana paced the Ninos with 15 points each.

Game Two was being played at press time last night. Game Three will be tonight, again at the XU Gym. If needed, Games Four and Five are scheduled for this Saturday and Sunday at the New Cebu Coliseum.

The Scores:

Misamis Oriental 70 - Yee 19, Daja 12, Tagupa 10, Moreno 9, Mente 5, Gudez 5, Bombeo 4, Butel 4, Kong 2, Paterno 0, Sanchez 0.

Cebu 64 - Dacia 15, Mepana 15, Ababon 11, Tangkay 8, Santos 7, Enriquez 4, Padilla 3, Basco 1, Cavan 0, Aying 0, Dizon 0.

Quarterscores: 20-8, 36-20, 52-44, 70-64.