Naga stuns Minglanilla in controversial match

CEBU, Philippines — The Minglanilla Archangels opened their title defense in a manner they least expected.

And they literally got a jolt from the Naga Electrifiers.

In a wild and wooly finish, the Archangels suffered a stunning 93-91 overtime loss to the Electrifiers in the 2nd Cebu Governor's Cup Inter-Cities and Municipalities Under-21 Developmental Basketball Tournament before a highly partisan crowd late Monday night at the full-packed Enan Chiong Activity Center in the City of Naga.

Minglanilla was up by a hairline, 91-90, when Justin Atilano sank a booming triple with seven-tenths of a second left in extra time. The regulation period ended at 75-all.

The game, however, was immediately put under protest by Minglanilla claiming that Naga committed a violation for having six players inside the court during that crucial sequence of play.

In a detailed Facebook post by Cebu Provincial Sports Commission (CPSC) Executive Director and tournament chairman Atty. Ramil P. Abing, Naga scored the game's last basket with seven-tenths of a second left in the five-minute extension to steal the win away from Minglanilla.

"The catch and shoot play was unbelievably executed by Atilano from the 3-point line which made the final score at 93-91 in favor of the home team," narrated Abing.

"However, amid the raucous celebration, the Minglanilla bench and coaching staff contended that the last play was done with six Naga players in the court. None from the referees and table officials saw the alleged violation. Thus, the last basket was counted. Initial review of the live video coverage in FB showed that indeed there were 6 players of  Naga that took part in the last play," Abing further stated.

Abing and rest of the tournament committee including all the referees and table officials involved are still deliberating on the issue as of this writing and are expected to release an official statement regarding their decision today.

In same FB post, Abing pointed out that 'the Archangels played lousily in the beginning and didn’t look like defending champs at all. They were completely dominated by the hefty and aggressive Electrifiers before Steve Nash Enriquez and Mark Justine Nebril bombed away threes and maneuvered amazing plays to catch up the lead.'

Enriquez, a star guard of the University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers, exploded for 30 points, while Nebril, a mainstay of the University of Cebu (UC) Junior Webmasters, chipped in 20 markers for Minglanilla.

Marl Vhic Delantes paced Naga with 26 points, Keith Rainer Visayas scored 17 points and Gerald Flores contributed 11 points for the Electrifiers.

In the other game,  the Talisay City AquaStars tamed Carcar City, 88-82.

Over at the Dalaguete municipal gym, the Alcoy Siloy survived a closely-fought match marred by a double unsportsmanlike fouls to prevail over the host Dalaguete AgriSaurs, 65-64, and take the temporary lead in South Division Bracket 2 with a clean 2-0 slate.

In the other game, UC Junior Webmasters All-Star wingman Johh Bryl Cuyos fired 26 points and Ehman Ronen Suarez banged in 11 points to power Sibonga past  Boljoon, 68-67.

Up North played at the Don Celestino Martinez, Sr. Sports Complex, Balamban pulled off a 79-73 come-from-behind win over host Bogo City, Tabogon bested Asturias, 77-64, while Tuburan dominated Tabuelan, 88-68. (FREEMAN)