All-Stars out-hustle Stallions, make E-League final

The Teleperformance All-Stars survived a tactical contest to advance to the finals after sweeping Lexmark Stallions, 46-44, in Game 2 of the best-of-3 semifinal series of the Elite Classic division of the 2017 CSCC E-League at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym last Saturday.

On the other hand, defending champions Convergys Converters lived to play for the deciding game after beating Accenture Sharks, 81-75, in double overtime in Game 2 of the other Elite division semifinal.

Teleperformance managed to outscore Lexmark in each of the first three quarters to build a 36-30 cushion entering the final period.

The Stallions rallied in the final quarter but failed to steal a game when they faltered in their last few possessions.

Rahne Laborte and Mark Jung- goy III led Teleperformance scorers with 12 and 10, respectively, while Sylvester Millervo and Franco Cipriano combined for 30 points for Lexmark.

The Converters, on the other hand, needed the basketball smarts of Franz Dionne Dysam to keep their grand slam hopes alive as they needed two extra periods before beating the hard-fighting Sharks.

Trailing by four points after the first quarter, Convergys managed to build a 55-43 lead entering the final period with a 29-14 blitz in the third quarter.

But Accenture refused to concede and held the Converters to just five points in the final frame while scoring 17 to even the game at 60.

Both teams were still tied at 69 in the first overtime before, Convergys finished the job in the second extension with a 12-6 bash to forge a deciding third game.

Dysam scored the game-high 26 points and Sherwin Emmanuelle Resilla contributed 21 for Convergys. Archie Batua made 17 points, while Harold Isaga and Ryan Veloso added 10 points each for Accenture.

Meanwhile, No. 4 QBE Generals took top seed Tech Mahindra Tech Mighties by surprise, 6655, in Game 1 of the Evo League semifinal series. /