By Ivan Saldajeno
STA. CRUZ, Laguna--FEU-FERN won the secondary basketball championship of the Milo Little Olympics after stunning recently crowned CESAFI juniors titleholder Sacred Heart, 69-62, in the nightcap of a four-game opening day festivities at the San Luis Sports Complex on Saturday.
The Baby Tamaraws, who barely missed the Final Four of the UAAP juniors basketball wars earlier this year, held off a gallant stand from the Magis Eagles, who opted to rest most of their key players from their CESAFI team, for their second straight win in the pocket tournament pitting the best high school basketball teams from each of the four mega-regions: Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
FEU-FERN, which replaced the supposed Southern Luzon regional champion San Beda, moved up to 2-0 in the standings, while Sacred Heart, the Visayas winner, dropped to 1-1, tying North Luzon representative Assumption-Pampanga, which beat Mindanao-based Corpus Christi, 74-64, earlier in the night.
Aside from Sacred Heart, FEU-FERN also holds the tiebreaker over Assumption-Pampanga due to a 91-35 bludgeoning in the morning session also on Saturday, making the UAAP team the winner of the tournament if it loses its final game on Sunday.
The Milo Little Olympics basketball competition follows a format similar to that of the Jones Cup in which no playoff game will be played and that the team with the best record or the team with the best quotient if a tie at the top takes place will be crowned the champion.
FEU-FERN can complete the sweep of the tournament, which serves as its buildup for the UAAP games next year, against the still winless Corpus Christi at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, while Sacred Heart and Assumption-Pampanga dispute the silver later in the day at 9:15 a.m.
Box Scores:
FEU-FERN 69-Roman 15, Gonzalez 14, Sapinit 13, Celzo 7, Jabel 6, Gloria 5, Gabane 4, Tupas 3, Ramos 2, Boc 0, Torres 0
Sacred Heart 62-Pastor 18, Cutamora 10, Nacua 8, Tuadles 7, Canoy 5, Celerinos 4, Mesina 4, Lapiña 2, Aguilar 2, Quema 2, Narvasa 0, Ngo 0
Quarterscores: 21-18, 35-29, 52-50, 69-62