Cebu Niños sweep way to Liga Pilipinas crown

Winning 21 straight games might just be a number but for the M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala Cebu Niños, it symbolized a remarkable feat that might never be equaled in the near future.

Behind an all-out domination, the Niños easily put an end to the title-reign of the Misamis Oriental Meteors by scoring a convincing 89-54 victory to capture the 2009 Smart Liga Pilipinas Conference III championship Sunday night at the Cebu City Coliseum. What was expected to be a tight collision between two of the league's powerhouse teams turned into a convincing rout for the host Cebuanos as they erupted right from the opening tip to complete the conference with a perfect 21-0 record. Guard Stephen Padilla came through with three booming triples in the first half, including one that gave the Niños a huge 24-point advantage, 44-20. His scoring exploits during this week-long tournament easily earned the former sniper of the Metropolitan Basketball Association's Cebu Gems the Super Leg's Most Valuable Player award. It was a remarkable campaign for the squad of coach Yayoy Alcoseba after winning 16 games through the four leg phases they participated in. They sustained it by sweeping the four-game Super Leg elims to gain an outright seat in the finals. And the Niños made sure that their unbeaten mark won't be put to waste during the most important game of the conference. "Winning 21 games is just a number but then, all of our efforts will be put to waste if we win 20 games then lose this game," Alcoseba said. Southpaw guard Mark Ababon led the way for the Niños with 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in 24 minutes while backup big man Frank Nailon added 13 points in just 12 minutes off the bench. Nailon pushed the Niños' lead to 30 points after scoring nine straight points for a 73-42 lead with just 5:18 left. Speedy point guard Woodraw Enriquez, who was adjudged as the conference MVP the other night, chipped in 10 points, four rebounds and two assists in 16 minutes off the bench. The game was mostly physical and tense with Cebu's Bruce Dacia and MisOr's Ronald Lamocha being thrown out on two separate plays. But it hardly mattered for the Niños as they scored 19 points off 20 of 23 turnovers the Meteors made during the first half while allowing them to shoot just 33-percent from the field. Guard Mark Moreno led MisOr with 15 points but top scorer Patrick Cabahug, who was named as the Gunner of the Conference the other day, was an eye sore for the squad of coach Jun Noel, scoring just four points. RB Mangahas buried a fadeaway three-pointer with less than three seconds remaining as the Trace Laguna Stallions escaped with a 92-91 win over the Quezon Red Oilers to bag third place. - GMANews.TV