CECABA All-Stars stun LISO 5 in series opener

The Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association (CECABA) All-Stars rebuffed a courageous endgame fightback by the previously unbeaten Liloanon Sports Organization (LISO) to eke out a stunning 96-88 win and move one step closer from clinching the 2005 Executive's Cup basketball title on Tuesday night at the City Sports Club of Cebu gym.

Earlier, the San Carlos Boys High Alumni Basketball Association (SCBHABA) selection triumphed over last year's runner-up Club Monday, 86-83, to lift the third place trophy in the tournament backed by Osaka Iridology and Manang Gina's Lutuing Bahay in cooperation with Imports Unlimited, Sunsport, Gloria Jean's Coffees-BTC and Grand Gemini Ventures Corp.

The CECABA All-Stars, who applied brake on LISO's 10-0 streak this season, could practically wrap up the crown with another victory over the defending champion in Game 2 of their best-of-three finals series at 7:30 pm tomorrow.

Top center Sammy Sia muscled his way to solid double-double show, finishing with game-high 28 points - including 14 in the final stretch - on top of 12 rebounds, while Chester Cokaliong was in his usual devastating form, firing in 7-of-20 3-pointers to pitch in 23 points.

Cokaliong, who also had two rebounds and one assist, hit his first three attempts, sandwiching a beautiful layup with a pair of triples to power the CECABA stars to an early 26-22 lead. Sia and Wilson Yu joined the fray by combining for 16 points in the second quarter to pad CECABA's advantage to seven at halftime, 50-43.

Cokaliong and the ageless Zotico Tan quelled any comeback attempt by LISO in the third quarter by bombing in four treys to maintain CECABA's lead, 70-53, entering the final 10-minute mark of the contest. Still, LISO refused to roll down and just die as it staged a daring breakaway to even the count at 72-all. Cokaliong broke the impasse with a 3-pointer to make it 75-72 for CECABA, but the gritty LISO made an 8-3 run to grab the lead anew, 80-78.

In the ensuing play, Edvin Kaw made his first free throw off a foul, but bungled his second attempt. Luckily though for the Easternians, Sia picked up the rebound and scored on a putback to hand back CECABA the lead for good, 81-80.

The unpredictable Wilson Yu chipped in 16 points, 10 rebounds, and three steals, Kaw added 14 points and three rebounds, while flashy guard Joel Chan scored only four, but had 10 assists and nine rebounds for the CECABA, which ended its four-game losing streak to LISO since last year.

Abner Desiderio topped LISO with 24 points, while Edger Ybañez and Paulino Cañete III cashed in 17 and 16 markers, respectively, in a losing cause.

First game
SCBHABA (86) - Banaag 36, Amores 20, Diaz 13, Monsanto 10, Ramos 4, Pua 3
Club Monday (83) - Seno 26, Macasero 24, Sepe 8, Fernandez 6, Navarro 6, Reyes 6, Del Mar 5, Halili 2

Second game
CECABA All-Stars (96) - Sia 28, Cokaliong 23, W. Yu 16, Kaw 14, Z. Tan 9, J. Chan 4, Chua 2
LISO (88) - Desiderio 24, Ybañez 17, Cañete 16, Oncines 11, Jugalbot 8, Bio 4, Bantilan 2, Fernandez 2, Torlao 2, Maglasang 2