STI College Santa Rosa beats Dasmarinas squad 80 - 53

June Aliparo soars

Five-time STI Basketball Showdown champion STI College Santa Rosa flexed its muscle as it blasted the spirited run of STI College Dasmarinas 80 – 53 at the start of Group A action of the STI National Basketball Tournament. The Laguna based cagers once again relied on their balanced attack from start to finish and never gave their Cavite counterparts an air of hope in carving out their masterful rout.

Dan Mamaed shows his might

In the first half Santa Rosa’s hot shooting guard June Aliparo carried the scoring load for the Laguna cagers as he scored on a three pointer, a jumper and a couple of fast breaks for a team high 11 points at the half. Ably supporting him was Jestoni Hercia who added 10 points. Others who chipped in were Dan Mamaed who went 2 for 2 from the field for 6 points while Norbert Peña and Jhon Brianth Ursua both scored 5 points each to give them a commanding 44 – 22 halftime lead.

RJay VIllaruz hangs in midair

The Caviteños on the other hand played hard, battled every possession but unfortunately came out short. Leading the way was flashy guard Rhaygie Matsuo whose career high last week gave him the go signal to slash inside and throw those three point bombs. He went 2 for 6 from beyond the arc and scored 9 points. Unfortunately the well was dry for the Dasmariñas five as they went into many dry spells during the first half.

Rhaygie Matsuo with a no look pass

The second half was no different as Santa Rosa pounded the inside and ran when the occasion called for it. Santa Rosa had simply more firepower as their bench outscored their counterparts to the tune of 53 – 14.  It’s just like there was no stopping the mean Santa Rosa machine. STI College Dasmarinas on the other hand relied on the 14 second half points of forward Rjay Villaruz as he single handedly brought back their team but couldn’t do it alone. In the end, the Laguna cagers outran, outhustled and outplayed the Cavite five.  Raul Guerrero led the scoring in the second half for Santa Rosa with 9 points. All 12 players from STI College Santa Rosa scored.

Jestoni Hercia on the drive

Box scores:

STI COLLEGE SANTA ROSA (80)

Hercia 14,Guerrero 12, Aliparo 11, Ursua 9, Fudotan 7, Mamaed 6, Peña 5, Francisco 5, Almoro 4, Caraan 3, Lizen 2, Romero 2,

STI COLLEGE DASMARIÑAS (53)

Villaruz 18, Matsuo 9, Gabotero 8. Bungubung 7, Oribillo 5, Dones 4, Mendoza 2, Batiancila 0, Domingo 0,

Quarter scores: 24 – 5, 44 – 22, 65 – 40, 80 – 53