Say Chiz nails Caballes Cup final slot

MANILA, Philippines—LUCENA HOTSHOT Christian “Pugo” Sevilla drained a league record seven three-pointers and Say Chiz leaned on its defense in the stretch to hold off Charlie’s Dy-Mons, 72-67, and nail the first final berth Monday night in the 1st PGBL Willie Caballes Cup at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.  
Sevilla finished with 21 points and fueled a hot start by the Smileys, but it was a key defensive play by Ethan Tiu and Wowie Lucas in the last 55 seconds that resulted in a steal and a  layup that sealed the game for Say Chiz, which took a 70-65 edge there en route to its fourth win in five outings.   In the first game, the San Mateo Spurs planted a foot in the final by coming from behind to rip an undermanned JK Tigerscribes, 78-65.   Malaya’s Jerome Lagunzad and Manila Times’ Josef Ramos keyed a huge third-quarter run to give the Spurs their third win in five outings. San Mateo can nail a final slot by beating Say Chiz Monday in the tournament held in honor of the late Manila Bulletin assistant sports editor.   Eric Uy led the Spurs with 17 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, while Lagunzad and Ramos added 16 each. The Inquirer’s Cedelf Tupas led JK with 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists while Manila Standard’s Jeric Lopez added a career-best 16 markers.   Ik Aceson had 29 points while Teng Masigan added 19 points, nine rebounds and six steals for the Dy-Mons, who still have a slim chance of making the finals of this event sponsored by San Miguel Corp. and the Philippine Sportswriters Association with backing from Burlington, Sen. Chiz Escudero and Pollen-B.   Charlie’s needs to beat JK on Monday and hope that San Mateo loses to Say Chiz to forge a tie for second and advance to the championship via a superior quotient.