MANILA, Philippines — Cagayan de Oro and Davao Occidental swept their respective foes to set up an interesting title showdown in the Cocolife Pilipinas Super League Pearl of the Orient Cup powered by Smart 5G.
The Higalas edged the Roxas Vanguards in an 82-80 overtime thriller while the Tigers devoured the Basilan-BRT cagers, 70-55, to complete two-game sweeps of their respective best-of-three series at the Manuel A. Roxas Sports Complex in Roxas, Zamboanga del Norte.
The Higalas and the Tigers clash in a best-of-three titular showdown starting at 7 p.m. tonight at the same venue while Game Two is set Monday at the University of Southeastern Philippines Gymnasium in Davao City.
A decider, if necessary, is on Wednesday also at USEP.
CDO, which took the opener, 72-64, Tuesday, needed a 9-2 run for a five-point cushion late in OT and watched Roxas’ Justin Serrano miss a desperation heave from way outside to escape with the thriller.
Red Cachuela and Aaron Royo led the way for the Higalas by firing 14 points apiece.
Davao Occidental, for its part, bucked a slow start with a strong second-quarter barrage to put the game out of reach.
Eman Calo dropped 16 points for the Tigers, the bulk of which came in a series of runs in the second quarter when they outgunned Basilan, 25-11.
In the Under-21 finals of the Aspirants Division Invitational Cup, the Consolacion Sarok Weavers trounced the Roxas Vanguards, 80-66, to seize a 1-0 lead and move on the cusp of snaring the crown.
John Dalumpines paced Consolacion with 14 points on top of three rebounds, four assists and four steals while Rovello Robless provided the needed help with 13 points.
Defense also proved key for the Sarok Weavers as they held conference MVP Gyle Montano to just two points on a nightmarish 1-of-11 shooting clip.
Consolacion was going for the jugular in Game Two at press time.