Meteors near Liga cage title

MANILA, Philippines - Misamis Oriental held off M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu, 73-71, to move within a victory of clinching the 2009 Smart Liga Pilipinas Conference II crown at the Xavier U gym in Cagayan de Oro City Thursday.

Mark Yee rifled in a triple in the last 2:11 to give the Meteors a 70-63 cushion which they used as a springboard to score the victory and gain a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five series.

Earlier, Ramil Tagupa nailed back-to-back treys as the Meteors took a 65-58 lead but the Niños, with Mark Ababon hitting his own trey, struck back to close within, 66-70.

But the defending champions bungled their next offensive play and Yee added two more free throws for a 72-66 MisOr lead.

The Meteors go for the crown in Game Four tonight at the New Cebu Coliseum.

The event is backed by Smart, ML Kwarta Padala, Burlington, Accel, Air 21, Laptop Phoneshop Exchange, Pagcor Sports, Nature’s Spring Water and Molten and sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).

Yee finished with 15 points, 12 coming from the free throw line, and had five rebounds.