Shell 80s beat 2007 with torrid display of 3-point shooting

CHESTER Cokaliong and Joel Chan combined for 61 points on a night of dizzying 3-point shooting, powering Shell ’80s to an, 85-83 nail-biter over Wild Rice 2007 in the Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association’s 12th Dr. Chen Lieh Fu Memorial Cup last Tuesday night at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.

The match featured 26 conversions from beyond the arc.

Cokaliong, who pulled two rebounds and picked up one steal, darted 11 triples of his 36 points highlighted by a crucial five-point swing in the closing minutes of the match that kept Shell 80s safe in the face of Class 2007’s spirited resistance.

Chan was similarly explosive, churning out a season-high 25 points on top of 16 rebounds and eight assists, while Christopher Cokaliong netted 11 points for Class ’80s, which tallied its seventh straight win and eight overall in 10 starts.

Class ’80s trailed most of the way and was even down by eight points in the third quarter, 59-67, but staged a daring endgame fightback anchored on Cokaliong and Chan to snatch the win at the buzzer.

Class ’80s slowly chopped down the deficit and finally seized the upperhand, 76-75 on a booming trey by Cokaliong. The contending squads then figured in a see-saw battle from there but lucky breaks tilted in favor of the Shell-backed side.

Class 80s was up by only one point, 84-83 on Chan’s pressure-packed free throws. But in the ensuing play, Cokaliong was fouled after getting an offensive rebound with nine seconds left. The league’s revered founder and incumbent president then split his charities to lift Class ’80s to the win.

Class ’80s won despite playing without Stephen Tan, one of its top gunners who was in Manila.

Raymark Ryan Ong and Juan Carlo Espada each had 18 points for Class 2007 which absorbed its sixth consecutive defeat.

In the other game, Erwin Yu banged in 15 points while man mountain Richard Yu added 14 as Dewfoam ’88 slammed Young Builders ’91, 57-44, to improve its win-loss record to 5-3.

Chester Benedict Go and Wendell Ang nailed 11 markers apiece for Class ’91, which suffered its seventh loss against only two victories.

BOX SCORES

First game

Class ’80s (85) – Ches. Cokaliong 36, Chan 25, Chris. Cokaliong 11, Z. Tan 6, Yu 5, Mendez 2

Class 2007 (83) – Espada 18, Ong 18, So 15, Dy 10, Pilapil 9, Chu 8, Bayer 3, Po 2

Second game

Class ’88 (57) – E. Yu 15, R. Yu 14, Aguilar 9, R. Lim 6, Tanting 6, P. Lim 4, Ng 3

Class ’91 (44) – Go 11, Ang 11, De la Torre 9, Lim 6, Borromeo 5, Yu 2