Host Niños thwart Meteors, clinch Liga final berth

CEBU City , Philippines  – Streaking Cebu stifled Misamis Oriental with its pressure defense and went on to smother the defending champion with a 78-54 victory last night to clinch an outright finals berth in the Super Leg of Liga Pilipinas at the Cebu City Coliseum here.

Mark Magsumbol turned in a game-high 16 points, including 11 in a blistering second round run that set the tone for the rout for the Niños, their third straight victory for an automatic ticket to the championship round.

It was also the Niños’ 19th straight win as they moved two wins away from completing a historic sweep of the tournament. They face the Pampanga Smart Buddies in their last elims match.

The Meteors fell to second place with a 3-1 card regardless of the result of the Niños’ last game. They would need to beat the No. 3 team to arrange a re-match with the host team tomorrow at the same venue.

Marlon Basco, Woodraw Enriquez and Ian Saladaga added 13, 10 and 10 points, respectively, but Cebu coach Yayoy Alcoseba said it was their defense that spelled the difference.

“Our defense did it for us, it fuelled our offense,” said Alcoseba.

The Niños indeed choked the Meteors with their physical defense that led to a series of fastbreak opportunities.

For a while, Cebu and MisOr went through some anxious moments as they slugged it out in a rough foul-marred opening quarter, forcing the referees to tighten up on their calls to keep the match under control.

The tournament is sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and sponsored by Smart, Accel, Nolten, Burlington, Biofresh, Calcium Free, Gatorade, San Miguel Beer, Air21, Casino Alcohol, Omega Pain Killer, M Lhuillier Kwarta Padala and host Cebu Councilor Yayoy Alcoseba.

Magsumbol, a former pro and member of the St. Benilde Blazers team that won the 2000 NCAA title, keyed a big second quarter blitz by Cebu as he unloaded an 11-point binge he spiked with three triples. – Joey Villar