Mandaue, Consolacion to settle unfinished business tonight

CEBU, Philippines - Mandaue City and Consolacion will try to settle their unfinished business once and for all as they clash in the deciding match of their best-of-three finals series for the North Division crown of the 2017 Cebu Governor's Cup Under-21 Inter-Cities and Municipalities Basketball Tournament tonight at the Mandaue City Cultural and Sports Complex.

Game time is set at 7 pm, with the winner earning the right to challenge South Division titleholder Minglanilla for the inaugural Governor's Cup championship that goes along with a whopping P500,000 in cah prize.

Consolacion drew first blood  84-78, but Mandaue lived and fight for another day  after pulling off a nerve-wracking 85-81 win over the Sarok Weavers last Monday night at the Consolacion Sports Complex.

Christopher Isabelo, a member of the USPF Baby Panthers, pumped in all his 11 points in the final period capped by the insurance free throws that gave Mandaue another lifeline. He also hit three crucial treys that enabled his side to get back from six points down at the end of the third canto.

Prior to Isabelo's heroics, Mandaue got a big boost with the return of their All-Star center Jancork Cabahug.

who gamely carried the fight for them early on. He scored 13 as they took an early 25-23 lead.

Kenneth Brillo and Froilan Mangubat joined the scoring fray to keep a 44-37 Mandaue lead at halftime.

The Sarok Weavers, however , staged a daring fightback behind Emmanuel Villamor, Brevin Keith Padayogdog and John Kirck Gonzaga, who sparked a 26-13 run to push Consolacion on top, 63-57, going into the last 10-minute zone of the contest.

The two protagonists then engaged in a tightly-knit match down the stretch.

After Cyril Sabellana knocked in a 3-pointer to pull Consolacion within just two points, 81-83, the Sarok Weavers could have tied the count but blew their chances after Froiland Maglasang bungled two free throws with eight seconds left to play.

In the ensuing sequence, Consolacion's top gunner JC Escalona was forced to give up a foul against Isabelo in an effort to stop the clock.

Isabelo, however, showed nerves of steel by calmly dropping his twin gift shots with only five seconds remaining to wrap up the match for Mandaue.

Cabahug topscored for Mandaue with 22 points despite sitting down for most of the last qutrer, while Mangubat finished with 18 points and Ken Gato added 11 identical with Isabelo.

Villamor scattered 25 points, while Sabellana nailed 16 markers in a losing effort for Consolacion. (FREEMAN)