Meteors gain final vs Niños, shade Oilers

CEBU City, Philippines – Defending champion Misamis Oriental survived a tough Quezon side as it eked out a 71-69 victory to arrange a highly anticipated title showdown with unbeaten Cebu in the Super Leg of Liga Pilipinas at the New Cebu City Coliseum here late Saturday.

Patrick Cabahug bucked a poor first half shooting by scoring 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter as he powered the Meteors to the championship against the M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-backed Niños Sunday night.

“He (Cabahug) made some big shots in the fourth quarter and he really helped us a lot,” said MisOr coach Jun Noel.

The tournament is sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and sponsored by Smart, Accel, Molten, Burlington, Biofresh, Calcium Free, Gatorade, San Miguel Beer, Air21, Casino Alcohol, Omega Pain Killer, M Lhuillier Kwarta Padala and host Cebu Councilor Yayoy Alcoseba.

Meanwhile, Cebu guard Woodraw Enriquez bagged the league’s MVP honors after posting solid averages of 8.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 5.6 assists over 16 games during the Tour Phase where the Niños emerged unbeaten in 20 games.

Automatically a member of the Mythical Five, Enriquez was joined in by teammates Ariel Mepana and Conference I MVP Marlon Basco, Eder Saldua of the Meteors and Harold Sta. Cruz of Forward Taguig.

Liga Pilipinas president and CEO Noli Eala and Patrick Gregorio of Smart Sports awarded the trophies to all the winners.

Nños mentor Yayoy Alcoseba was named coach of the year for steering his team to 20 straight wins and one victory away from completing a first-ever title sweep.

Hans Thiele of the Smart-Pampanga Buddies was selected Find of the Conference, given to players making their Liga Pilipinas debut, while Red Oiler Luis Palaganas won the Sportsmanship Award.

Cabahug also won the Gunner of the Conference honors for his average of 17.9 points.

The Meteors bucked Luis Palaganas and Hafer Mondragon’s back-to-back triples in the last 11 seconds as Ramil Tagupa and Joey Mente countered with free throws to clinch the victory.

Philip Butel made a 16-foot shot with 26 seconds left to give the Meteors a 68-63 lead.

Solar Sports will air the games of the Super Leg. The Liga Pilipinas Classics are also telecast daily on Viva Prime Channel. For details, log on to www.ligapilipinas.net.

After struggling in the first three quarters, Cabahug knocked down eight points to keep the Meteors’ head above waters.

Cabahug wound up with 15 points while Erian Daja had 12, including eight in the first half. Floyd Dedicatoria scored 18 points while Jorel Canizares 11 points for Quezon.

The scores:

Misamis Oriental 71 - Cabahug 15, Daja 12, Lamocha 9, Butel 9, Mamaclay 6, Kong 6, Tagupa 6, Saldua 5, Mente 3, Moreno 0, Misa 0, Guiyab 0.

Quezon 69 - Dedicatoria 18, Canizares 11, Labagala 10, Raymundo 10, Mondragon 7, Palaganas 5, Cacha 3, Pinera 3, Panzo 2, Suguitan 0, Orias 0.

Quarterscores: 18-11, 31-30, 50-50, 71-69