City hall, Police beat win

THE CITY HALL and Police beat reporters cruised to separate wins at the start of the 2011 Press Freedom Cup Basketball Tournament yesterday at the Cebu City Sports Institute Arena in barangay Pahina-San Nicolas.

City Hall prevailed over the Sportswriters Association of Cebu (SAC)-Veranda, 65-54, while Police beat pulled off a close 75-72 win over Mallet.

City Hall had four players scoring in double figures, holding off SAC’s endgame comeback to emerge victorious in a highly physical match that saw the referees calling several technical fouls.

The Sportswriters, last year’s losing finalists, trailed by as many as 15 points in the third period but rallied in the fourth where it trimmed the deficit to just six points in the final three minutes.

SAC’s comeback bid fell short when it missed crucial attempts in the closing seconds.

Jonas Panerio led SAC with 27 points, while Calvin Cordova added 20.

Robert Sabequil scored 21 points for Police, which had three players scoring double figures.

Godfrey Rellin and Jun Solon paced Mallet with 26 and 23 points, respectively./EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CALVIN D. CORDOVA