By Ivan Saldajeno
MANILA--Cebu City can now hope that a home win will start a turnaround to its MPBL Datu Cup campaign.
The Sharks ended a four-game losing streak in their first game at their own turf, downing the Makati Skyscrapers, 70-66, at the Basak Coliseum in Cebu City on Saturday night.
Behind the hot hands of Patrick Cabahug in the early stages of the game, Cebu City built a huge lead enough to survive a late push from Makati.
The Sharks actually took advantage of the Skyscrapers' early struggles as they raced to a 20-9 lead after the first quarter.
Just when Makati thought it already picked up its game going after keeping an inch with Cebu City in the second quarter, the latter limited the former to just 14 markers in the third quarter as the latter led by 17, 58-41, entering the fourth.
The Skyscrapers came alive in the final frame, chopping the lead down to just four, 68-64, with 49 seconds remaining before forcing a Cesar Catli turnover.
However, Rhaffy Octobre made a huge block on Rudy Lingganay in the next Skyscrapers offensive, and Will McAloney iced the game with two huge free throws off a Mark Isip foul.
Cabahug finished with 22 points on four triples with seven rebounds and one assist for Cebu City, which despite staying at the bottom of the Southern Division standings moved up to 2-8.
Cedrick Ablaza and Jerald Bautista each tallied 10 markers for Makati, which fell to sixth place in the Northern Division at 6-4.
Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno
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