Tuesday, April 25, 2017

STI College Santa Rosa brings down Las Pinas, enters finals

June Aliparo eludes his defender

STI College Las Pinas once again started the game with their hot shooting and it looked like a monumental upset was in the making. Unfortunately for them, STI College Santa Rosa eventually found their rhythm and had enough time to compensate for their first quarter mishap to beat STI College Las Pinas 78 – 53 and enter the STI National Basketball Tournament finals. This will be the return of the Laguna based team to the finals after they missed it last year.

 Merced from way out drains this three

In the first quarter, STI College Las Pinas got off to a blazing start as their version of the Splash brothers, Danico Merced and Mark Ruallo, went 5 of 12 from beyond the arc. In contrast, STI College Santa Rosa had a plagued stricken 1 of 11 with ace gunner June Aliparo missing all his five shots. The Santa Rosa offense was in shambles in the first quarter as most of their shots were rimming out or can't find the range.

Jeric Hercia blocks the shot

STI College Las Pinas then seized the opportunity to lead in the first quarter 24 – 15. It was the most points that STI College Santa Rosa has given out the past four days. STI College Las Pinas would eventually hold on to the lead at the end of the first half 38 – 35 even as the Santa Rosa team were finding it hard to break their offensive slump. 

Karamihan on the drive

Basketball is a tale of two halves, the beauty of the game is that one can come back and make amends on their mistakes. This what STI College Santa Rosa did as they unleashed the full strength of their offense by scoring willingly inside the paint on their set plays and tortured the Las Pinas team with their flawless fastbreaks. 

Mark Ruallo for three

Veteran Santa Rosa guards Raul Guerrero and June Aliparo anchored STI College Santa Rosa’s crippling 25 – 5 third quarter that broke the game open as the Laguna cagers ended the quarter a mile ahead 60 – 43. Guerrero scored 10 third quarter points while Aliparo who finally found his mark added 8 points as the Santa Rosa duo on the other hand put the cuffs on the Las Pinas guards.

Raul Guerrero for two

In the fourth quarter, the Splash brothers shooting tapered off and STI College Santa Rosa finished the game strong. The Laguna team just coasted in the last four minutes of the came as STI College Las Pinas conceded the outcome and gave their counterparts the game. The win allowed STI College Santa Rosa  for another epic battle against STI West Negros University in the championship. 

Romualdo pulls down the rebound

Rey Romualdo was as beast inside the paint as he finished the game with a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds. Guerrero chipped in 17 points while Aliparo added 10. Ruallo and Merced scored 14 and 11 points respectively for the STI College Las Pinas team while Jerico Nograles missed having a double-double as he had 9 points but had 16 rebounds.

The box scores

STI COLLEGE SANTA ROSA (78)
Romualdo  19, Guerrero  17,Aliparo  10, Karamihan  7, Almoro 6, Hercia Jes.  6, Ursabia  6, Fabic  5, Proximo  2, Hercia Jer.  0, Regalado 0 , Dimaranan 0,
STI COLLEGE LAS PIÑAS (53)
Ruallo  14, Merced 11, Nograles 9, Salvia 5, de la Cruz  4, Negrido 4, Apachicha  3, Rico 2, Gutay 1,Ocampo 0, Zaballero 0,


Quarter scores:  15 – 24, 35 – 38, 60 – 43, 78 – 53

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