Eleven Degrees 96/97/98 pulled out a huge victory over defending champ Ceres Pasalubong, 71-65, and Petron 2001/02/12 improved its quarterfinal with a lopsided 79-53 win against Raga Raga 2003/04/05 in the 5th SJI Alumni Basketball Friendship Cup at the Msgr. John Liu Activity Center, Tuesday night.

Allowing Ceres a three-point lead in the first quarter, 18-15, Eleven Degrees bounced back in the second canto for a halftime 34-32 lead en route to a victory that stopped Ceres Pasalubong’s winning streak after two undefeated championship season and five straight games in the current tournament.

Phoenix 99/2000 remains as the only undefeated squad this season.

Keith Banzon sunk three treys and Alvin Dionela added seven points as Ceres went ahead in the first quarter.

Siote Diente bullied his way in the shaded area and got away with 10 points in the second quarter to steer Eleven Degrees to a two-point halftime advantage, even as Raymund Lacson and Brian Coo combined for 14 points for Ceres.

Asserting its dominance in the third quarter, Ceres outscored Eleven Degrees but the latter kept the lead at 51-50 buoyed by its three-point shooting.

Ceres momentarily grabbed the lead in the payoff quarter behind Brian Coo but free-throw shooting woes hounded Ceres as they yielded the lead back to 11 Degrees.

Coo had 11 points but was countered by Dino Tongco, who made his presence felt at the low post and tallied 10 points with a perfect 6-of-6 performance from the charity line.

Determined to keep its unblemished record, Ceres put up a tough fight in the fourth quarter, but Tim Garrucho bailed 11 Degrees out of trouble as his shot clock buzzer-beating attempt was counted for three with about a minute left in the game to give his team a four-point lead.

Garrucho also converted 3 of 4 from the free throw line to complete the upset victory.

Tongco finished with 19 points, Garrucho added 16, and Diente scored 12 points.

Brian Coo and Raymund Lacson delivered 17 points each Alvin Dionela picked up 11 points.

In the second game, Petron limited Raga Raga to 18 halftime points while scoring 39 points behind Marcelino Tan’s 17 second quarter output, and Clarence Quingco and Lacson’s 7-point contribution each.

Mark Vasquez and Joel Bacabac sparked the rally for Raga Raga and cut the lead down to less than 20 points, but Ralph Ong maximized his towering presence by scoring eight points in one stretch to extend Petron’s lead to 59-33.

Tan topscored for Petron with 21 points, Joshua Co added 13, Migs Estrella had 12, and Ong with 11 points.

Vasquez tallied 10 points in a losing effort, Bacabac and Michael Sian had 8 points each, and Marco Ongsingco delivered 7 points.*NAB

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