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Melvin Katipunan (L) pumped in a 31-point outing to give ICCT Colleges a twice-to-beat edge in the semis (File photo courtesy of the ISAA Facebook page) |
By Ricky Manliguis
ICCT Colleges and
La Consolacion College- Manila finally secured the twice-to-beat advantage in
the semifinals but had to survive their respective rivals on the
penultimate day of the elimination round of the Inter-Scholastic Athletic
Association (ISAA) Season 15 basketball tournament Saturday at the Trinity
University of Asia gym in Quezon City.
The Blue Dragons nabbed
the first seat in the semifinals, withstanding the mighty challenge of the
Immaculada Concepcion College Blue Hawks, 92-84, for its seventh straight win against
a solitary loss.
It was the turn of point
guard Melvin Katipunan to score a 30-piece this season, firing 31 points on
13-of-19 shooting from the field with three rebounds and three steals.
Dowilliam Triste Jr.
provided ample backup with 20 points spiked on three triples, while Noy Arimado
cashed in 12 for ICCT, which will close out its elimination campaign against
the AirLink Blazing Phoenix on Wednesday.
Toto Ramirez and AJ
Flores provided monster numbers for ICC with 35 and 32 points, respectively on
a combined 23-of-52 from the field. Their efforts went up in smoke though as it
saw its seven-game winning streak snapped and finish their elimination round at
7-2, good for third.
La Consolacion then
recovered from an anemic first half using a blistering third-quarter attack to
upend WCC-ATC, 79-73, in the final game of the day.
Down 34-42 at the half,
the reigning three-time champions instigated a 28-10 scoring surge in the third
canto to take a comfortable 62-52 advantage into the final 10 minutes and hung
on from there.
JM Urmeneta led
four Blue Royals in twin figures with a near-double double of 18 points and
eight rebounds. Christian Alonzo and Kenneth Castillo added 13 and 12, while CJ
Antonio had 10.
The Skyhawks, which
suffered its third straight loss to fall at 3-5, were paced by Kirk Encarnacion
with 19 points.
PATTS SECURE #4 SLOT AS PIKEMEN PLAY SPOILER’S ROLE TO GOLDEN LIONS
In other seniors
games, Saint Dominic College of Asia ultimately denied Treston a place in the
semis, fashioning out a 67-50 win in an emotionally charged ballgame featuring
intense physicality and plenty of off-court drama.
Edward Daquioag and
the rest of the Pikemen kept the Golden Lions at bay for most of the game even
when things got chippy in the final moments of the match to wrap up their
season campaign with a 4-5 win-loss record.
Daquioag finished with
a game-high 30 points coupled with five steals on 9-for-16 (56%) field goal shooting.
Noel Cruz was the other double-digit scorer with 13.
It was a painful
end to the campaign of Treston, who had a 5-1 record before dropping its last
three games. Its only hope for a semis seat was for PATTS College of
Aeronautics to lose all its remaining two games.
But the Seashorses took
advantage of that Treston loss, dominating from opening tip to overwhelm the
also-ran AirLink Blazing Phoenix, 62-50, and eventually placed its foot on the
post-season bus.
Joshua Bongon was
again instrumental in the PATTS attack with across-the-board numbers of 20
points, five rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Mark Jayson Morada came
off the bench to nab 16 markers and four steals.
The boys from Parañaque (now at 5-3) will
still have WCC-ATC as its final assignment on Wednesday but will get the
fourth slot over Treston regardless of that result owing to the team’s 73-51
win over the Golden Lions last Tuesday.
Jovi Manlapig paced
the Blazing Phoenix, now at 2-6 with one game left in its schedule, with 14
points and nine rebounds.
In the lone juniors
game, Treston finally put an end to their four-game losing skein after cooling
off the ALIAC Baby Blazing Phoenix, 73-66. Prince Oliver Bueza fired 22 points
while Julian Agapito and Neo Anthony Marcelino chipped in 18 and 14,
respectively, as the Golden Cubs are now at 1-4 with the game against ICC on
Wednesday wrapping up its campaign.
AirLink, which
ended its juiniors' assignments at 3-3, was led by Paul Resara’s 15 points and
Gelris Bulilan’s 13.
The UA&P
Parking and Sports Building (PSB) in Pasig City will host the final day of the
elimination round on Wednesday, November 29. Treston and ICC hit the floor
first in the final juniors game at 9:30 am, followed by the match between ICCT
Colleges and AirLink at 11 am.
PATTS will take on WCC-ATC
at 12:30 pm, right before the UA&P Dragons play for the very last time this
season in front of their home crowd against Philippine Women’s U Patriots at 3
pm.
ISAA VOLLEYBALL: LCCM,
ICC GAIN BACK-BACK WINS IN WOMEN’S SIDE
Over in volleyball,
Immaculada Concepcion College and La Consolacion-Manila snagged their second
consecutive wins in the women’s division to highlight Friday games at the LCCM
gym in Mendiola, Manila.
The Lady Blue Hawks
dominated ICCT Colleges from opening serve, beating the Season 14 runner-ups in
straight sets, 25-10, 25-17, 25-16 for a 2-0 start in the seven-team tournament.
The Lady Blue
Royals, meanwhile, pulled of a convincing 25-12, 25-13, 25-21 victory
over Treston to likewise improve to 2-0 while sending the Golden Lionesses to its
second consecutive setback.
AirLink later dispatched
the Manila Adventist College (MAC) Soaring Angels, 28-26, 25-18, 25-20,
to improve to an even 1-1 record.
In the men’s
division, Season 14 runner up WCC ATC Skyhawks churned out a 25-23,
25-19, 25-14 win over the University of Asia and the Pacific to join opening-day winners PATTS and ICC with
winning starts.
The Treston Golden
Lions then bounced back from its opening-day loss to down the MAC Soaring Angels,
25-15, 25-14, 25-23.
Action will now shift to the Treston gym in Taguig on
Sunday, November 26.
THE SCORES:
1ST GAME
(SENIORS)
ICCT 92 – Katipunan
31, Triste 20, Arimado 12, Magno 9, Baculio 6, Santos 3, Martinez 2, Borja 1, Mapua
0, Alvarado 0, Buban 0, Ducot 0, Magtulis 0, Pascua 0.
ICC 84 – Ramirez
35, Flores 32, Duarte 5, Seniedo 4, Omaga 3, Grado 3, Paccarangan 2, Delos
Santos 0, Joaquin 0, Monares 0.
QUARTERSCORES: 24-22,
48-49, 73-68, 92-84.
2ND GAME
(JUNIORS)
TRESTON 73 – Bueza 22,
Agapito 18, Marcelino 14, Rivera 8, Sonido 7, Lajom 4, Canino 0, Guya 0, Ona 0,
Salvatierra 0, Sumalinog 0, Cabili 0.
ALIAC 66 – Resara 15,
Bulilan 13, Cruz 11, Torrenueva 9, Allam 6, Mañalac 5, Onella 5, Bathan 2, Ibarra 0, Lozano
0, Dalaten 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
16-13, 33-22, 56-54, 73-66.
3RD GAME
(SENIORS)
SDCA 67 – Daquioag 30,
Cruz 13, Busante 6, Espellogo 6, German 4, Emerenciana 2, Genos 2, Domingo 2, Guadamor
2.
TRESTON 50 – Adina 9,
Santos 8, Jose 7, Sy 7, Dela Cruz 6, Tan 3, Sicat 3, Sarmeinto 2, Caole 2, Abanico
1, Malay 1, Capistrano 1, Driz 0, Quibral 0, Cambi 0, Rivera 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
23-13, 37-22, 52-34, 67-50.
4TH GAME
(SENIORS)
PATTS 62 – Bongon 20,
Morada 16, Benitez 12, Wahing 10, Lopez 4, Carballos 0, Jamon 0, Butao 0, Alvarez
0, Belgado 0.
ALIAC 50 – Manlapig
14, Fry 11, Mangune 10, Faisan 6, Santiago 3, Arreza 3, Albit 2, Ranario 1, Arellano
0, Canovas 0, Villaflor 0.
QUARTERSCORES:
20-13, 32-28, 47-42, 62-50.
5TH GAME
(SENIORS)
LCCM 79 – Urmeneta 18,
Alonzo 13, Castillo 12, Antonio 10, Aloro 9, Cordaño 8, Ober 5, De Sales
2, Pineda 2, Valencia 0.
WCC-ATC 73 – Encarnacion
19, Briones 12, Reniedo 10, De Guzman 8, Lizan 8, Lime 5, Salinel 5, Gillego 3,
Salvio 3, Bugarin 0.
QUARTERSCORES: 17-21,
34-42, 62-52, 79-73.