Olympians win first two games in 2nd Round

Ramon Mabayo scores on a hard drive

The STI College Olympians started the second round of the NAASCU on a high note as it got back at their first round tormentors, the Lyceum of Subic Bay Sharks 96-85 and sustained it with another 91-72 win over their cyber war opponents, the Informatics International College Icons. The two wins are against the bottom two teams of that made it to the quarterfinals and the big games are just about to come.

Rookie Center Maclean Sabellina scores on a lay up

STI COLLEGE VS LYCEUM OF SUBIC BAY

Eversince the Olympians introduced their brand of pressing defense a lot of schools followed suit. Another team that does that is the Lyceum Sharks whose never say die attitude got them a win against the Olympians in the first round. James Collado, who punctured the hoops for 23 markers in the first game was checked by Forward Ramon Mabayo. Mabayo defended well as he gave Collado a hard time getting his game going and matched the burly forward's strength in every possession. On the other hand, Mabayo was limited to four points in that first round loss so he started strong by giving the OLympians an 18-10 first quarter lead.

Arnold Danganan with his Ginobli like moves

The second quarter was like a chess game with both teams playing superb defense with STI making headway and trying their best to break away by controlling the second canto enroute to a 38-23 lead. In the second half the Sharks though shooting guard LA Gapasin came back to life as his game high of 37 points fueled every Lyceum run as the Sharks who scored 23 first half points scored 62 second half points - the most that the Olympians have given in a winning game. The Olympians got a sigh of relief in winning this game since the team missed 27 free throws! The Olympians were led by Mike Cabangon who scored 26 points again, the same total he had in their first round encounter. The win kept the Olympians abreast second placers AMACU and St. Clare who both won against New Era University and University of Manila respectively.

STI
Cabangon 26, Danganan 22, Mabayo 13, Mendoza 10, Vasallo 10, Aranzaso 8, Crisostomo 5, Limpin 2, Sabellina 0, Ihalas 0,

Lyceum
Gapasin 37, Ladaban 15, Collado 10, Pellico 8, Ellano 5, Velasco 4, Morrison 4, Valencia 2, Carrey 0, Campania 0, Postrado 0,

Quarter scores: 18-10, 38-23, 62-51, 96-85

Air Cabangon in one of his many scheduled flights

STI COLLEGE vs. INFORMATICS

The Olympians know for a fact what the Icons are going through, when the Olympians were new in the NAASCU they played miserably. They took bad decisions, gambled on every possession and were an uncohesive unit. The Icons were a notch above what the Olympians which resulted in a win against the University of Manila Hawks. The Olympians did not take the ICons lightly as the teams battled in the first quarter toe to toe with the Icons getting the upperhand first. Ramon Mabayo underscored his might inside the paint as he presided over the Olympian's defense and more importantly fueled its offense as the Olympians opened up a 23-12 first quarter lead.

The future of STI will be in their hands

Mike Cabangon and Arnold Danganan then found ways to puncture the hoops as the Olympians took a commanding 48-24 lead at the half. The ICons battled back and forced the Olympians to numerous turnovers which resulted in baskets for them. Eric Acuña led the Icons assault as they brought the 24 lead down to 10 points in the wake of their drives to the hoops. Unfortunately for them, the trio of Mabayo, Cabangon and Danganan proved steadier in the endgame as the Icons bowed anew to their corporate rivals.

The Scores:

STI College (91)

Mabayo 18, Cabangon 16, Danganan 15, Ihalas 11, Aransazo 7, Crisostomo 6, Sabellina 6, Vasallo 5, Mendoza 3, Macabasco 2, Limpin 2, Washington 0.

Informatics (72)

Acuña 17, Castelo 11, Pagkalinawan 11, Costillas 11, Santos 9, Sarmiento 6, Deximo 3, Peig 2, B.Ungco 2, Aguilar 0.

Quarterscores: 23-12, 48-24, 65-49, 91-72 Final