CEBU, Philippines — Cebu returned to the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League with a flourish, battling back from a 19-point deficit early in the fourth quarter to stun the Caloocan Batang Kankaloo via a 77-76 cliffhanger in the 7th MPBL season last Thursday night, March 13, at the Pasay City Astrodome.
It was a resounding comeback for Cebu from a five-year hiatus in the regional cage league founded by boxing legend Manny Pacquiao in 2017.
And they did it in style.
The Cebu Classic trailed 46-65 at the final 8:34 mark, but homegrown players Limuel Tampus and Brylle Ivan Meca with the help of Lean Martel, Darrell Manliguez and Mark Meneses masterminded a fierce 31-8 counter-attack to erase the huge deficit and seize the lead, 77-73, on two free throws by Manliguez with only 10 ticks left in the game clock.
Jeramer Cabanag hit a 3-pointer to pull Caloocan within just a hairline but Cebu held on to a thrilling win despite Martel missing his twin gift shots in the last five seconds.
Tampus bagged 16 points on a 5-of-8 shooting from the field and added four rebounds, three assists and a steal to emerge as “Player of the Game”. His townmate Meca chipped in with 10 markers.
Big man Rashawn McCarthy added 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists, four steals and one block while Meneses produced a double-double of 12 points and 15 boards laced with two assists, four blocks and a steal for Cebu, which will face next the Quezon Huskers on Monday, March 17, in Bataan.