Games today:
Cebu Coliseum
4 p.m. – Ilocos Sur vs. MisOr (for third place)
6 p.m. – MLKP-Cebu vs. Mandaue (Championship)
Reigning national champions M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu Niños set up a championship showdown with sister city squad Mandaue after beating bitter rivals Misamis Oriental Meteors, 82-72, Thursday night in the Liga Pilipinas V 2nd leg at the Cebu Coliseum.
Stephen Padilla finished with a total of 15 points on top of five rebounds and five assists for the Niños.
Lyndon Gudez, who strutted his stuff at the University of San Jose-Recoletos during his collegiate days, led MisOr with 20 points.
The Niños, who has had a contentious history with the Meteors in past year, asserted themselves early in the match and led, 14-2, behind the scoring of Padilla, Frank Nailon and Ian Saladaga.
The Meteors got back into the thick of things as Gudez caught fire along with Patrick Cabahug and Dino Daa.
But the Niños managed to control the pace and tempo of the match all game long and Padilla, last year’s Tournament of the Philippines MVP, hammered the last nails in the coffin of the Meteors as he scored in two three-point shots in the last three minutes of the game that effectively put to rest the outcome.
The Meteors bounced right back and got their first victory of this leg after they thwarted the Ilocos Sur CS Tigers, 79-74, yesterday.