Saturday, May 30, 2015

STI College Global City wins National Basketball Tournament

The 2015 STI National Basketball Tournament Champion
STI College Global City

Redemption. What a difference a year makes. Before, STI College Global City had a hard time figuring out the trapping defense of STI College Santa Rosa, their interior defense was always napping and their teamwork was a mess.  Learning from their mistakes from previous encounters against one of the best basketball teams in STI history, STI College Global City redeemed themselves by taking care of the ball better, shutting down the shaded lane and played with a bigger heart to pull the rug from under STI College Santa Rosa 76 – 69 and capture the STI National Basketball Tournament National Title.

Mike Sampurna scores

Graduating seniors Elmer Labis Jr., Arjay Napeñas, Anthony Jeanssen Pangilinan and Jim Lontoc together with Mike Sampurna poured their hearts out in final quarter to open up a 68 -60 lead in the final 3:45 minutes of play. The Global City offense was clicking this time around as Jim Lontoc rediscovered his shooting touch while Mike Sampurna scored off his usual drives to the basket. STI College Santa Rosa plugged the middle and made it hard for Pangilinan to score but left out another big man Arjay Napeñas whose offensive rebounds and put backs were crucial in the game.

 Jim Lontoc ices the game 
with these two free throws

Elmer Labis Jr. came out on top of the statistical race to become the first MVP of the STI National Basketball Tournament.  Labis scored 15 points, hauled down 13 rebounds, issued 8 assists, had 3 steals and 1 block shot which showed his versatility. The MVP race was a close one with Pangilinan coming in a close second. Pangilinan together with Mike Sampurna, June Aliparo and Raul Guerrero comprise the tournament’s Mythical 5.


June Aliparo led Santa Rosa
with 21 points

The Global City win marked the end of an era as they replace the Laguna based squad as the best STI team in the country.  For STI College Santa Rosa, they have nothing to be ashamed of. In this game, it was unfortunate that their ace gunner June Aliparo had an off night. When Global City raced to an eight point lead, Aliparo had chances to get them back but his booming three pointers took a day off. He eventually deserted his long bombs and still manufactured some points by driving to the basket. Unfortunately it was not enough to make a last ditch comeback as the Santa Rosa offense was in disarray as their shots were not falling and their inside game became non-existent. Aliparo still scored 21 points but went 8 of 30 from the field, 4 of 22 from beyond the arc and was 1 of 12 in the second half.

Tournament MVP - Elmer Labis Jr.


The STI National Basketball Tournament attracted fifty teams from all over the country with 34 teams coming from Luzon, six from the Visayas region and 10 from Mindanao. Eight teams made it to the National Finals and it was a beauty seeing all basketball programs come together in one venue. All games of the National Finals were officiated by the referees from the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas and FIBA Livestats were available. Coaches were given updates on the game statistics on points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocked shots, points in the paint, turnover, turnover points and other information to know more on how their teams played. A fitting innovation of the STI National Basketball Tournament.

STI's best: Center - Elmer Labis, 
Guards June Aliparo & Raul Guerrero
Forwards: Anthony Jeanssen Pangilinan & Mike Sampurna 

Box scores

STI COLLEGE GLOBAL CITY (76)
Lontoc 17, Labis 15, Sampurna 15, Pangilinan 12, Napeñas 8, Veluz 4, Carlos 4,  Cudal 1,

STI COLLEGE SANTA ROSA (69)
Aliparo 21, Guerrero 11, Caraan 10, Almoro 8, Fudotan 6, Ursua 5, Lizen 4, Mamaed 3, Romeo 1, Hercia 0

Quarter scores

15 – all, 31 – 36, 53 – 50, 76 - 69

No comments: