Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu tops Cebu leg of Seaoil NBTC League anew

The Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles made it two in a row after they captured the championship in the Cebu leg of the 2012 Seaoil NBTC Elite League after beating the Cebu Eastern College Dragons, 97-75, in Game 2 to sweep the finals series, 2-0, late Sunday evening at the City Sports Club Cebu basketball court.

The result was similar to the 68-51 beating that they handed the Dragons in Game 1.

Much like the series opener, the Dragons made a game out of it in the first half as they trimmed what was once a 12-point deficit into half, 45-51, at halftime, even with star player Lyle Sumayang getting hobbled because of an ankle injury.

The Dragons pushed even closer, 47-51, as John Caspe opened the second half with a driving layup.

However, it took all of five seconds for the Eagles to assert their will once again as they dominated down low and scored six points in just one possession.

First, Mavii Suarez scored inside and was fouled in the process. He failed to complete the three-point play but managed to snatch the offensive board and again made a basket, while getting fouled. After failing to make the bonus free-throw, his fellow big man Julius Cadavis got to the rebound and scored to complete the incredible turnaround that gave them a 59-47 lead.

That was followed up by an 11-2 run by the Eagles that was capped off by consecutive three-point makes, one by Jair Igna that he banked off the glass and another from the corner by former Jr. NBA national team member Rendell Senining, which established a 70-51 lead with 4:36 left in the third canto.

The Dragons threw up the white flag in the fourth stanza as head coach Jerry Jaranilla played most of his bench players, leaving the Eagles to run up the lead to a high of 23 on several occasions with Cadavis doing the most damage, scoring eight of his 26 points in that stretch.

Cadavis capped off his performance by grabbing the Most Outstanding Player award for the tournament, a feat that he achieved on the national stage last year when the Eagles went on to be crowned as the NBTC national champions in Bacolod City.

Suarez added 14 for the Eagles while Senining, a transferee from the University of San Jose-Recoletos, chipped in 12. The Dragons were paced by the 17 of Alfred Sedillo and the 15 of Alfonso Alvizo. Their two shotmakers, Caspe and Sumayang, were held to a total of 16.

The Eagles will now represent Cebu in the nationals slated on March 3 to 5 in Manila.