Meteors rap Niños, snare Liga crown

MANILA, Philippines – Misamis Oriental used a torrid third quarter attack to seize control then hung tough in the clutch to defeat M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu, 64-52, in their sudden death for the 2009 Smart Liga Pilipinas Conference II National Championship before a stunned crowd at the New Cebu Coliseum in Cebu City Monday.

The Meteors, behind Mark Yee, Philip Butel, Lyndon Gudez and Ramil Tagupa, outscored the hosts, 24-4, in the pivotal third, turning a close 29-27 lead at the turn to a 53-31 bulge.

The top seeded squad never looked back from there as it pounced on the erratic Cebu side to complete the rousing victory.

“This is a greatest feeling of all, knowing you worked hard for it and played your best in the game that mattered the most. I am so proud of the team. This is for our fans in MisOr,” said MisOr coach Jun Noel.

The defending champion Niños actually surged ahead at 30-29 as Stephen Padilla hit a triple at the onset of the third. But it proved to be Cebu’s last taste of the lead as the Meteors ran roughshod over their rivals, who had 17 errors at the end of the third and finished the game with 21.

“My hats off to them. They executed their plays extremely well and showed so much poise. The way they played, it didn’t matter where the game was held,” Alcoseba said.

Yee finished with 12 points, including 10 in the third period, and hauled down 12 rebounds.

Mente scored all his 11 points in the first half. Mark Ababon fired nine of his team-best 13 points to pace the Ninos while Marlon Basco finished with a double-double game of 11 points and 14 rebounds.

For averaging 14.6 points in the series, Yee was named the Finals MVP. He also won the Conference MVP honors.

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) vice-chairman Ricky Vargas and Smart Sports’ Patrick Gregorio awarded the trophies to all the winners.

The event was sponsored by Smart and backed by ML Kwarta Padala, Accel, Air 21, Burlington, Pagcor Sports, Nature’s Spring Water, Laptop Phoneshop Exchange and Molten and sanctioned by the SBP.

The Meteors took the opener of the best-of-five series, 70-64, and Game Three, 73-71, but the Ninos equalized with victories in Games Two, 58-55, and Four, 62-58.