REIGNING Liga Pilipinas national champions M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu Niños found themselves back in their usual stead as they barged to the finals of the 6th leg of Conference 5 after they demolished the GenSan-MP Warriors, 97-66, last Friday at the Xavier University gym in Cagayan de Oro City.
In the nightcap, the Misamis Oriental Meteors nipped the league-leading Mandaue-Cebu Landmasters/RDAK, 80-74, to book the other ticket to the leg finals.
The win by the Meteors also avoided a three-way logjam in the standings, thus denying the Landmasters a shot at a fourth straight leg title.
M. Lhuillier and Misamis Oriental were still battling for the crown as of press time.
Veterans Stephen Padilla and Nat Cruz, two players who were unceremoniously benched by Niños head coach Raul “Yayoy” Alcoseba during their overtime loss to the Meteors, showed that they still had a lot of gas remaining in the tank as they anchored a breakaway in the first period that set the tone for the rest of the one-sided match.
Padilla knocked down four triples while Cruz added six more points to give M. Lhuillier a commanding 31-14 lead after one period.
The Warriors of Rep. Manny Pacquiao and Coach Arvin Bonleon never recovered after that first period barrage by the Niños.
Mark Jeffries opened the final canto with a dunk to ignite a 10-2 run starring Mark Abadia that gave M. Lhuillier its biggest lead, 88-46.
The MP Warriors countered with an 18-2 blast of their own to reduce the deficit, 64-90, but M. Lhuillier was unrelenting with Jeffries capping the blowout with another dunk for the final tally.
Ian Saladaga led the Cebu Niños with 13 points while Padilla and Ogie Menor added 12 each as a total of six M. Lhuillier players had 11 points or more.
Meanwhile, the main offing saw the Meteors unleash an 8-0 blast when it mattered the most as it shattered a 70-all deadlock and gave the hosts a 78-70 lead with just 1:25 left in the game.
Trailing by a point after three periods, 55-56, JR Gerilla conspired with Ardy Larong and Rudy Lingganay at the start of the fourth period for a 70-64 Meteors lead at the 4:29 mark. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio