TOP: Hot shooting lifts Cebu to 93-81 win over GenSan

Ian Saladaga caught fire in the second period helping top seed M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu blew past MP GenSan Warriors, 93-81, at the end of the Tournament of the Philippines (TOP) quarterfinals Wednesday night at the New Cebu City Coliseum. The win set up the Niños to a best of three semifinals showdown with Treston Laguna in the tournament jointly organized by the Philippine Basketball League and Liga Pilipinas. The other Final Four pairing is between second seeds Misamis Oriental and Ascof Lagundi.

Cebu and MisOr enjoy the home court advantage and will host the first two games on August 31 and September 1. In case of a third game, matches will be played on September 3 at their rivals' venue. The Warriors had defeated the Niños this season, a 79-74 win on July 2 that ended Cebu's 30-game winning streak, including a 21-0 record in the last Liga Pilipinas conference. This time, the Raul Alcoseba-coached Niños played without let up and poured it all in the second period to pull away and never look back. Saladaga led that Cebu onslaught firing eight of his team-high 15 points and the host team outscoring the visitors, 33-17,in the second period to take a commanding 52-35 lead. Stephen Padilla added 12 points behind three trhee-pointers while Abby Santos added 11 markers for the Ninos, who twice enjoyed a 28-point bubble that last of which at 80-52 with 13 seconds left in the third canto. Louie Medalla had 23 points while Marvin Yambao added 13 markers, five rebounds and six assists for the Warriors. Cebu also posted a 48-39 and 23-19 edge in rebounds and assists while also shooting 48 percent from the field (36-of-75) against the 38 percent clip of GenSan (29-76). – JVP, GMANews.TV