Cebu Landmaster shades woozy Lhuillier, 83-81

Cebu Landmaster-Mandaue claimed its second straight victory in the 2007 Mindanao Visayas Basketball Association (MVBA) second conference with a nail-biting 83-81 escape over defending champion M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu City last Friday at the Mandaue City Cultural and Sports Complex. The league said in a statement Saturday that Harold Santa Cruz banged in a free throw with 44.5 ticks to go in the contest that broke an 81-81 tie and put the Landmaster on top, 82-81. Woodrow Enriquez of Lhuillier then drew a foul from Mike Manigo only to miss both shots and Mark Yee of Landmaster grabbed the defensive rebound from the hands of Ron Capati plus a foul. Yee made only one charity to settle the final count with 26.1 seconds remaining. In the final sequence of the game, Marlon Basco of Lhuillier fired a jumper from the corner that bounced off the rim and the ball falling into the hands of Enriquez who drove strong to the basket with a second to go. Enriquez was fouled but the table officials ruled that the foul came after the buzzer sounded, thus igniting the pro-Landmaster gallery's celebration. Enriquez put Lhuillier on top for the last time with a buzzer-beating triple at the end of the third period, 62-60. The best that Lhuillier could do was knot the score at 81-81 on an Enriquez put back of a missed triple by Bruce Dacia with 1:03 to go. Yee had a monster game with 18 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks. Manigo followed with 18, 14 coming in the second half. Enriquez led M. Lhuillier with 23 points followed by Dacia with 19. Landmaster will seek its third win on Sunday when the team travels to the New Cebu City Coliseum to tackle Arthro Kontra Arthritis-Cebu of Jonathan Guardo and Coach Al Solis at 5:30 p.m. Arthro dropped its initial assignment against the MP Warriors-GenSan, 67-74, last September 19. - GMANews.TV