By Jerome Lagunzad
Game Tomorrow (Olivarez Coliseum)
12 noon – Awarding Ceremonies
1 p.m. – CdSL vs CEU
Basketball glory is within reach of Colegio de San Lorenzo.
Coming through with their finest performance yet, the Griffins turned the tables on defending champion Centro Escolar University, 86-78, yesterday to move within a win away from clinching the Universities and Colleges Basketball League (UCBL) Season 2 crown at the Olivarez Sports Center in Sucat, Parañaque City.
CdSL can bag the league’s ultimate prize and foil CEU’s back-to-back bid with another victory in Game 2 tomorrow.
Benin native Soulemane Chabi Yo was at his usual best anew with 20 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks while guard Charles Callano and pro league hopeful Jon Gabriel added at least 16 points, doing most of the damage in CdSL’s early onslaught.
However, it was the 5-foot-9 Formento who nailed a high triple and set up Gabriel for a deuce that enabled them to restore order after CEU, behind three straight triples from Wamar, pulled within 71-79 with less than four minutes to play.
“CEU won’t simply go down without a fight. I’m glad that my players stuck to the gameplan and rose to the challenge in time,” said CdSL coach Boni Garcia.
Earlier, Olivarez College salvaged some measure of pride by defeating Diliman College, 60-57, in their “Battle for Third.”
First Game
OLIVAREZ 60 — Saguiguit 10, Uduba 10, Castro 10, Sunga 8, Elie 7, Lalata 4, Almajeda 4, Begaso 3, Navarro 2, Bermudes 2, Prado 0, Maganga 0, Geronimo 0.
DILIMAN 57 — Diakhite 18, Gerero 17, Salazar 8, Ligon 6, Brutas 5, Corpuz 3, Bauzon 0, Darang 0, Mondala 0, Mbiya 0.
Quarters: 11-19, 21-29, 40-42, 60-57.
Second Game
CdSL 86 — Callano 21, Chabi Yo 20, Gabriel 16, Formento 12, Sablan 10, Alvarado 5, Rojas 2, Ancheta 0, Laman 0, Gojar 0.
CEU 78 — Fuentes 26, Wamar 25, Guinitaran 5, Intic 5, Caballero 5, Umeanozie 4, Manlangit 4, Arim 2, Cruz 2, Uri 0, Baconcon 0.
Quarters: 22-16, 41-28, 68-52, 86-78.