BATCH 1995-La Nueva Pharmacy and Batch 1996-Blakeley’s Motorcare caught the last bus to the semifinals after they toppled separate foes in the sudden-death phase two of the quarterfinal round of the Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association (Cecaba) 14th Dr. Chen Lieh Fu Memorial Cup last Tuesday at the CEC Gym.
Batch 1995 continued its stellar run in the playoffs with a 65-56 spanking of Batch 1980s/1990s/2011-Koi Herbal, while Batch 1996-Blakeley’s Motorcare zoomed to the next round by dismissing Batch 2007-Chef Chang, 71-60.
Batch 1995, the lowest seed in the playoff and had to overcome a twice-to-win handicap in round one of the quarterfinals, drew a superb game from Donald Anthony Ting, who exploded for a game-high 38 points. Joseph James Yu pitched in 13 points for the seventh-seed Batch 1995.
Batch 1980s/1990s/2011 was booted out despite a balanced attack with Raymond Sypongco scoring 13 points, Joel Chan firing 11 and Paul Cabellon and Sammy Sia chipping in 10 apiece.
Skipper Shaun Wang, on the other hand, led Batch 1996 with 23 points, 10 rebounds and two assists. He was backed by Gerald Go, Rex Allinson and Dreyfuss Ang, who combined for 31 points.
Batch 2007, the youngest team in the league, was led by Raymark Ong and Juan Carlo Espada, who finished with 15 and 10 points, respectively.
The winning teams joined automatic qualifiers Batch 1990s/2001-AJL Surplus and defending champion Batch 1999-BMC Hospital Systems/ Hainanese Delights in the semifinals, which will be played in a single-round robin format starting tomorrow.
The top two teams after the semis will advance to the best-of-three championship round.
THE SCORES
BATCH 1995 (65)- Ting 38, Yu 13, Gollon 5, Tiu 3, Chica 2, Dy Teves 2, Angcay 2.
BATCH 1980S/1990S/2011 (56)- Sypongco 13, Chan 11, Cabellon 10, Sia 10, S. Tan 6, W. Yu 3, Avalon 3.