Games today:
Xavier University Gym
4:30 p.m. – Misamis Oriental vs. Mandaue
6:30 p.m. – Laguna vs. MLKP-Cebu
Cagayan de Oro– Reigning national champions M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu Niños trounced archrivals Misamis Oriental Meteors, 69-63, to barge into the championship game of the Liga Pilipinas Super Leg on Thursday night here at the Xavier University gym.
Much has been said about the Niños being beatable this season and Cebu hasn’t exactly done much to refute it during the leg phase, where they managed just one leg title and lost seven out of their last 10 matches heading to the Super Leg.
However, the Niños have turned their fortunes around in this phase of the competition and are looking very much the incredible squad that has captured three of the last four crowns in the Liga Pilipinas.
Thursday night was yet another example as the Niños displayed a masterful performance against the hosts and their raucous supporters.
They led by as many as 12 points and held the lead for all but a minute and 31 seconds of the intense encounter, underlying their intent to avenge their title loss against the Meteors in the last pocket tournament.
The Niños was in front, 36-27, at halftime and built their largest lead at 41-29 early in the third.
Misamis Oriental got as close as four points at several points in the fourth period, the last at 61-65, but the Niños kept their composure with Nat Cruz and Allein Maliksi hitting their free-throws down the stretch to put the game away.
Ariel Mepana led Cebu with 19 points and eight rebounds.
In the day’s other game, the Laguna Golden Lions got their first win of the competition with a 62-52 drubbing for the GenSan-MP Warriors.