Cebu Landmasters ousts Gaisano stays alive in Enervon CESAFI Partner’s Cup

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu Landmasters-USC Warriors started strong and wasted no time in delivering the big blows to knock out the Gaisano Capital South-UC Webmasters, 116-84, to stay alive in the Enervon CESAFI Partner's Cup yesterday at the Cebu Coliseum.

 It looked like it will be a toss-up between the Cebu Landmasters and the San Marino Tuna/CIT-U Wildcats for the remaining finals slot and the the right to play against defending champion Prime Asia Lending-UV Lancers in the  best-of-three championship series. 

The Cebu Landmasters opened the game with a 10-0 run and continued to pound on Gaisano, which appeared to be still groggy from their 101-79 loss to San Marino the other day.

The Cebu Landmasters relied on their accurate outside shots, but it was their defense that brought Gaisano down.

Stephen Que had 22 points spiked with three triples for Cebu Landmasters. Victor Rabat and Ian Ortega had their shots falling in to finish with 19 and 15 points, respectively.

 Cameroonian recruit Ahmed Salihou had 16 points including a two-handed slam that became the only highlight of the game, giving the Cebu Landmasters a huge 83-52 lead with 1:35 left in the third period.

The Cebu Landmasters, thus, evened its win-loss record at 1-1, while Gaisano crashed to 0-2.

Gerald Ampoon finished 15 points including three triples - one of which was a rare four-point play – in a losing for Gaisano Capital, which also drew 24 points combined from  Jan Auditor and Kido Cabrera.

The scores

Cebu Landmasters (116) -  Que 22, Rabat 19, Salihou 16, Ortega 15, Pepito 10, Guardiario 9, Duran 7, Magat 5, Seno 4, Adlawan 3, Romaguera 2, Bensig 2, Ypil 2

Gaisano Capital South-UC (84) - Ampoon 15, Auditor 13, Cabrera 11, Montilla 10, Quintao 8, Sigasig 8, Asis 8, Tamparong 6, Misa 3, Miranda 2. Halftime: 53-32 (FREEMAN)