By FRED C. FUERTES
The University of Bohol Flying Lemures, displaying power and precision basketball, outplayed Monday night the BIT International College Cruisers, 100-89, to clinch the championship crown of the 1st Maribojoc Inter-College Basketball Tournament at this town's sports and cultural center.
Earlier, the Philippine Maritime Institute Navigators subdued the Holy Name University Falcons, 116-104, in a one-sided game for the third place finish.
The two-day cage festivity which started Sunday night was sponsored by the local government unit headed by Mayor Leoncio Evasco, Jr. in coordination with Dep-Ed Maribojoc, the Sangguniang Bayan and the Liga ng mga Barangay.
The championship set to started in a see-saw battle which ended, 24-23, in BIT's favor after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Cruisers' point maker Dela Cruz waxed hot and scored five successive three-point shots. They enjoyed a six-point margin, 47-41 when the buzzer signaled the end of the first half.
In the final half, UB Head Coach Bogs Arabejo employed his fast-break plays and thru the join efforts of blind pass artist Basco, dunk-shot master Chiong, Morallas, Garcia, Quibol and Genovia, staged a rally and grabbed the driver's seat, 70-69, at third quarter's end.
In their effort to maintain the lead, BIT bench mentor Jun Legitimas relied on the services of top point-maker Dela Cruz, Biwang, Garcia and Amodia.
In the last quarter, however, the Flying Lemures staged a rally which caught the BIT Cruisers flat-footed. There was no looking back for Arabejo's wards as they engaged on a shooting spree until regulation period. The Flying Lemures enjoyed an 11-point cushion, 100-89, at game's end.
Cruiser Dela Cruz scored a game-high 14 three-point shots to be the championship game's top scorer.
The Flying Lemures went home richer by P8,000 while the Cruisers enjoyed a P6,000 1st runner-up prize. The PMI Navigators and HNU Falcons earned P4,000 and P2,000 respectively.
Maribojoc Sports Facilitator Florante Evasco with the assistance of cage commissioners Dodong Bangalao, Ed Tutor and Bobong Valles, managed the two-day court hostilities.
On the same occasion, sportsman Evasco, an erstwhile Dep-Ed district supervisor, announced the forthcoming Table Tennis Clinic come Sept. 25 and 26, this year, at the town's public market. (with reports from Dongred Redulla).