The defending champions Teleperformance (formerly Aegis) Vipers and the Convergys-2 Blue Devils pulled off contrasting wins to draw first blood in their respective best-of-three divisional finals series last Saturday in the 10th City Sports Club-Cebu (CSC-C) E-League for Basketball at the CSC-C Gym.
The Vipers survived a close encounter with the Lexmark Stallions, tallying a 56-52 win to take a 1-0 series lead in Division 1 finals, while the Blue Devils grabbed their 1-0 headstart in Division 2 by dominating the ePerformax Reds, 71-55.
The Vipers leaned on a balanced scoring attack to overcome the Joph Cleopas-coached Stallions. No player scored in double figures for the defending champions but the Vipers came up with seven players finishing with at least five points.
Gamaliel Bas, Dean Junber Escalon, James Lester Navaja and Garry Pastoral scored eight points each for the Vipers, who took a 34-29 lead into the fourth.
The Stallions made some runs but Teleperformance showed enough poise to escape with the win.
Franco Angelo paced the Stallions with 17 points, while Niel Tiempo and Ralph Loren Martinez contributed 13 and 11 points, respectively.
The Blue Devils, on the other hand, showed they’re back in their old deadly form after a shaky semifinal campaign, posting a huge 56-40 lead after three quarters of play for the 16-point rout.
Clifford Amarado fired 13 points, Lourenz Limpangog scored 12 and Roderick Mangubat pitched in 10 for Convergys-2, which faced elimination after enduring its first-ever loss in its semifinal series against the Wipro Tigers.
The loss snapped Convergys-2’s 11-game win streak but preserved its stellar elimination round campaign by winning two straight do-or-die games.
Angellan Visoc was the lone double-digit scorer for the Reds with 12 markers.