Bucking yet another tremendous pressure, the Convergys-2 Blue Devils survived a fourth do-or-die game in the playoffs and bagged the Division 2 crown by beating the ePerformax Reds, 66-57, last Saturday in the divisional finals of the 10th City Sports Club-Cebu (CSC-C) E-League for Basketball at the CSC-C Gym.
Winning the best-of-three series, 2-1, the Blue Devils advanced to the E-League Finals where they will face the Division 1 champions Teleperformance (formerly Aegis) Vipers in a race-to-two affair.
The Vipers, who swept the Lexmark Stallions in the Division I finals, are gunning for a second straight title.
For a while, the Blue Devils looked headed to an easy victory. They started the game like a house on fire, ending the first quarter with a 17-9 cushion before staging a 20-12 run in the next period for a sizable 37-21 at the bend.
Despite the sluggish first half, the Reds refused to just roll over and die, clawing back into the game behind a huge 23-9 assault as they moved within 44-46 with one quarter to play.
Amidst the searing ePerformax run, Convergys-2 regrouped, avoiding a major meltdown by ending the game with a 20-13 attack.
Clifford Amarado fired a game-high 17 points to lead the Blue Devils, who preserved a stellar season showing with the crucial win.
The Blue Devils went unbeaten in 10 outings in the elimination round. They tasted their first defeat in the tournament when they lost to the Wipro Tigers in Game 1 of their best-of-three semifinal series.
Facing elimination, Convergys-2 didn’t panic and won the next two games to advance to the Division 2 finals where they won Game 1 before faltering in Game 2, allowing the Reds to force a sudden-death duel.
Raymond Dennis Tan paced ePerformax with 13 points, while Robert Gilo added 11.
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