Cokaliong rains 17 triples in towing Class ‘80 vs Class ‘06

He’s at it again, raining triples at will.

Chester Cokaliong canned 17 treys of his tournament-high 53 points Thursday night towing Pilipinas Shell ’80s to a, 108-64 annihilation of First ACY Shipping in the Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association’s 12th Dr. Chen Lieh Fu Memorial Cup at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.

So explosive was Cokaliong that he immediately knocked in five 3-point daggers in the first quarter to power Class ’80s to a, 24-16 start.

The red-hot Cokaliong, who shot a spectacular 17-of-24 from beyond the arc, fired eight more triples – including five straight – in the third period where they outgunned the younger graduates, 34-14, to pad their lead to 46 points, 85-39, entering the final 10-minute zone.

Cokaliong, who went 2-of-3 from the foul line, got huge support from his teammates, with Stephen Tan cashing in 20 points on top of eight rebounds and five assists.

Chester’s younger brother Christopher Cokaliong had a solid double-double show of 13 points and 12 boards while Joel Chan nearly missed what could have been a second straight triple-double performance, finishing with nine points on top of season-highs 19 rebounds and 17 assists as Shell ’80s evened its record to 2-2, while handing the hapless Class 2006 its third straight defeat.

In the other game, Rex Millan had 25 points on top of eights rebounds, while Paul Timothy So added 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists as 3R Audio ’98 slammed Young Builders ’91, 71-49.

Erick Andrew So added 12 points, four rebounds and two assists as Class ’98 rebounded from its season-opening, 96-64 loss to Class ’80s last January 13.

BOX SCORES

First game

Class ’80s (108) – Ches. Cokaliong 53, S. Tan 20, Chris. Cokaliong 13, Mendez 10, Chan 9, Yu 2, Chioson 1

Class 2006 (64) – Dy 24, Yap 13, R. Tan 8, L. Tan 8, Nuñez 5, Tiu 3, Sungapo 3

Second game

Class ’98 (71) – Millan 25, P. So 15, E. So 12, Evangelista 8, Yap 4, Yu 3, Lim 2, Go 2

Class ’91 (49) – Yu 16, C. Go 11, E. Go 8, Ty 6, J. Lim 4, Crisologo 2, Co 2. /PR