STI College Santa Rosa wins 2nd Showdown Title

STI College Santa Rosa , Back to Back Champs

“Never underestimate the heart of a champion!” This phrase was what Rudy Tomjanovich said when his Houston Rockets bucked the odds to win their second NBA Title. To sum up the best of three championship series, defending champion STI College Santa Rosa showed the stuff that they were made of amidst the torrid comeback of the STI College Balagtas team. The Santa Rosa cagers were in total control of the game and were ready to hold the championship banner when the Bulacan based cagers clamped on the Laguna defending champs to move to within one point 71 – 70 with 16 seconds left in the game. Shifty Shooting Guard Aries Santos sank one free throw to make it 72 – 70 and when the buzzer sounded Team Santa Rosa stormed to the court only to find out that a foul was called as time went off. Unfortunately for Team Balagtas point guard John Paul Macapagal missed the tying basket as his second Free throw rimmed out to the delight of the defending champions who stormed to the court once again to officially claim their second STI Basketball showdown title.

Richmond Reyes for two

The two teams started the first quarter with more than a hundred percent intensity as both teams battled on equal ground as both teams were tied at 12 – all with a little over three minutes left in the quarter. It was at this time that the STI Santa Rosa went on overdrive as Aries Santos and Ruzzel Parala combined with the big boys Richmond Reyes and Mark Arzola to fuel a paralyzing 10 – 2 wind up to end the quarter with a 22 – 14 lead. Arzola and Reyes would score 8 and 6 points respectively to show their might inside the paint as the duo outscored their bigger counterparts inside.

Arzola scores inside

The second quarter was a reprise of the first quarter as the Santa Rosa running machine went full blast with the trio of Santos, Parala and Armand Ferrer ran rings around their counterparts. The Laguna based cagers scored on set plays and on fastbreaks as the hapless bulacan cagers turned the ball over and failed to capitalize on their size as their inside plays were met with much opposition by the defending champs. D-league bound STI College Balagtas forward Cedric Ablaza had only two first half points as his drives to the hoop and jumpers rimmed out and were translated into fastbreaks by the Santa Rosa team.

Santa Rosa double teams Ablaza

In the third quarter, it was the time for Santa Rosa’s veteran shooting guard Aries Berlin to stamp his class as he scored nine points including a buzzer beating three pointer to give the Santa Rosa team its biggest lead of 67 – 48. The Santa Rosa team scored 22 points in the first quarter, 23 in the second quarter and 22 in the third quarter while limiting their opponents to 14, 15 and 19 points in those three quarters. Their relentless heads up defense resulted in that 19 point lead which eventually was enough amidst a remarkable STI College Balagtas fourth quarter comeback.

Ablaza scores

The pair of 6’3 centers Pasky Pascual and Cedric Ablaza aggressively pounded the paint which resulted in numerous fouls from the Santa Rosa big men. One by one the Santa Rosa big men would exit the game with Richmond Reyes getting his fifth with more than six minutes left in the game. Then came Mark Arzola’s fifth foul which was followed by Paul Marqueses. Three key Santa Rosa players were in foul trouble as Santos, Ferrer and third string center Dan Mamaed were also whistled four times each. This turn of events eventually gave renewed confidence to the Balagtas cagers as they slowly crawled back in to narrow the gap to 71 -70 with 28 seconds left. Team Santa Rosa eventually chipped off 14 more seconds before Santos was fouled with 14.3 seconds left in the game. The ball went to STI College Balagtas and their misses including the final free throw shot caused them the game and the title.

MVP Santos scores

Aries Santos was named tournament MVP for leading the Santa Rosa team to victory in game 1 and game 2. STI College Santa Rosa becomes the third team to win back to back following the feats by STI College Cubao and DLS-STI. Congratulations to STI College Santa Rosa.

Battle of the big guys

STI COLLEGE SANTA ROSA (72)

Santos 19, Ferrer 11, Arzola 10, Parala 10, Reyes 10, Maunahan 6, Marqueses 6, Jaspe 0, Galamiton 0, Llantino 0, Mamaed 0,

STI COLLEGE BALAGTAS (71)

Pascual 20, Q. Leguin 13, Ablaza 10, Pepito 9, Hernandez 8, dela Cruz 4, Cruz 4, Macapagal 3, Baliclic 0, J. Leguin 0, Crisostomo 0,

Quartescores: 22 – 14, 45 – 29, 67 – 48, 72 - 71

STI College Santa Rosa takes game 1 in OT

Backcourt battle: Maunahan vs. Pepito

No Holds barred…playing like there is no tomorrow! That is what game 1 of the 11^th STI Basketball Showdown has become, with neither team giving up and giving ground. STI College Santa Rosa converted six free throws in the dying seconds to eke out a hard earned 74 – 70 win against STI College Balagtas in game 1 of the 11^th STI Basketball Showdown at the STI Gym in Taguig City. High flying guard Aries Berlin carried the fight for the Laguna based defending champions as he fueled the Santa Rosa rally in the third quarter as their team scored 29 points and limited STI College Balagtas to only 10 points to seize the lead and more importantly the momentum enroute to their heart pounding victory.

Reyes scores

The first quarter saw the bulacan based STI College Balagtas team outhustle the normally energetic defending champs that started out flat and were firing blanks. The Santa Rosa fastbreak machine was checked and the transition defense of STI College Balagtas was quick to react while Albert Pepito and Kevin Crisostomo ignited a Balagtas run to give their team a commanding 17 – 3 lead. The Santa Rosa team ended the quarter with five straight points to cut that lead to nine 17 – 8.

Santos floats in mid-air

The second quarter was a little the same with the first as the Bulacan cagers padded their lead more as point guard Aaron Cruz paced the Balagtas team with seven points to give them their biggest lead 31 – 13. STI College Santa Rosa sued for time and finally woke up from their slumber. As if they were telling their counterparts “enough is enough,” the Laguna cagers unleashed an 8 – 2 final run to cut the lead of the Balagtas cagers 33 -21.

Marqueses, the surprise package

The third quarter saw the real Santa Rosa team come out of the dug-out and go back to their usual hustle plays. Making up for the foul trouble of MVP Candidate Rholf Reyes, Mark Arzola became the go to guy in the middle as he combined with center-forward Paul Marqueses in manning the middle to prevent the Balagtas big men to score. This gave the fast charging Berlin to run the floor and score. The Laguna cagers played better defense at the start of the quarter as they eventually caught up with their opponent to lead 37 – 35 after Arzola’s undergoal stab with time down to 5:10 in the 3^rd canto. The Santa Rosa team would end the quarter ahead 50 – 43.

Ferrer scores the go-ahead basket

Sensing that the game was slowly slipping away, STI College Balagtas then went to their big men to cut the lead of the defending champions. Recruited Olympian Cedric Ablaza and Patrick Pascual clogged the lanes and scored at will as the Bulacan team cut a ten point 43 – 53 deficit and tied the ballgame at 59 –all with 2:24 seconds left. This time STI College Balagtas would seize the upperhand as point guard Paul Macapagal sank a three pointer from the side to give his team a 62 – 59 lead. In the return play STI College Santa Rosa went to their own three point king in Ruzzel Parala as he calmly nailed a three pointer to tie the count at 62 - all. As STI College Balagtas muffed their possession, Santa Rosa’s Armando Ferrer milked the clock and scored on a drive to give his team a 64 – 62 lead with eight seconds left to shoot. On the return play it was Olympian Cedric Ablaza who towered against his opponents to score with no time left to send the game into overtime.

Ablaza sends the game into overtime

In the overtime it was Cedric Ablaza against the entire STI College Santa Rosa team. Ablaza scored all six points for the Bulakenos. Those six points eventually was not enough as he muffed a potential game tying free throw with less than 30 seconds left with Team Santa Rosa ahead 71 – 70 after he scored on a foul-counted play. Team Santa Rosa would eventually put the game away as Arzola nailed two free throws and Santos another one to put the game beyond reach. Santa Rosa can become the third team to win back to back on Sunday as the two teams meet for game two of the best of three finals.

Reyes on the Fastbreak

BOX SCORES

STI COLLEGE SANTA ROSA (74)

Santos 17, Arzola 11, Ferrer 9, Reyes 8, Marqueses 8, Jaspe 8, Maunahan 6, Parala 5, Llantino 2, Mmaed 0, Naraga 0,

STI COLLEGE BALAGTAS (70)

Ablaza 16, Pascual 12, Cruz 9, dela Cruz 9, Hernandez 6, Pepito 5, Macapagal 5, Crisostomo 4, Q. Leguin 4, J. Leguin 0

Quarterscores: 8 – 17, 21 – 33, 50 – 43, 74 - 70

Stat points leader Reyes follows up the miss

STI College Santa Rosa poised to sweep the league

The STI College Global City basketball team succeeded in limiting defending champion STI College Santa Rosa to 71 points because the last time the two teams met the Santa Rosa based cagers scored at will and ended up scoring 89 points. This time the defense of the home squad was adequate. As mentioned, if their defense was adequate their offense was very anemic as the Santa Rosa defense worked overtime to limit the Global CIty squad to 53 points. The win was the eighth straight by the defending champions as they prepare to sweep the league.

Rookie Guards Nikko Naraga and Ruzzel Parala led the charge for the laguna based cagers as Naraga was all business on the fastbreak while Parala rained threes. MVP candidates Aries Santos and Richmond Reyes added 12 and 10 points respectively as the defending champs are back in the finals with this win. With the loss, STI College Global City is one game behind STI College Balagtas who the defending champs will meet next week.

STI College Balagtas on the other hand leaned on the mutt and jeff tandem of Cruz and Pascualas the duo scored 18 and 14 points respectively to beat a hard fighting STI College Quezon Avenue team 68 - 62. Junior Olympian point guard Charlon Untalan came off the bench to score 22 points to pace the Quezon Ave squad which fought toe to toe against their Bulacan based foes but unfortunately lost steam in the end game. An oh so familiar story for the Quezon Avenue dribblers for the third straight year. The loss eliminated them from finals play.

STI COLLEGE SANTA ROSA (71)

Naraga 17, Parala 15, Santos 12, Reyes 10, Ferrer 7, Maunahan 6, Sayao 3, Arzola 2, Garamiton 1, Jaspe 0, Mamaed 0

STI COLLEGE GLOBAL CITY (53)

W. Sultan 15, Avila 13, Becares 4, Acuna 4, Manalad 4, Lontoc 3, Reyes 3, Magsalos 3, Sarmiento 3, Lagrimas 2, Jimenez 0, de Belen 0

Quarterscores: 23 - 10, 45 - 22, 59 - 36, 71 - 53

SECOND GAME

STI COLLEGE BALAGTAS (68)

Cruz 18, Pascual 14, dela Cruz 10, Ablaza 6, Crisostomo 6, J. Leguin 5, Baliclic 4, Macapagal 3, Hernandez 2, Q. Leguin 0

STI COLLEGE QUEZON AVE. (62)

Untalan 22, Daclitan 15, Magistrado 10, Jamero 7, Zabala 6, Ubeda 2, Cervantes 0, Aguilar 0, Magno 0

Quartesecores: 18 - 15, 37 - 31, 53 - 46, 68 - 62

Global City Cagers stay in second

Wynald Sultan of Global City scores

Forward Chris Becares scored three points in the dying seconds as the STI College Global City basketball team squeaked past last year's second placers, STI College Quezon Avenue 69 - 67. The win put the Global City dribblers in solo second place ahead of STI College Balagtas which opened the first quarter with a 31 - 3 lead and cruised by the rest of the way to repulse a hard fighting STI College Las Pinas team 113-60. League leader STI College Sta. Rosa likewise won by a big margin as they murdered an undermanned STI College Taft team 122 - 55.

Jhay Ar Avila shows his strength

STI College Global City was comfortably ahead in the third period as they erected a 49 - 33 lead on the strength of their superb defense and flawless offense. Point Guards Mark Acuna and former Junior Olympian Arvin Sarmiento presided over the run and gun offense of the Global City squad that put them ahead by as much as fourteen points. After three quarters it looked like the Global City cagers were on their way to duplicate their first round win against the STI College Quezon Avenue team.

Charlon Untalan orchestrates

STI College Quezon Avenue does not have the strong line up that they had in previous years. Gone are former Olympians Macky Macabasco and former STI Showdown MVP William Vasallo who were both instrumental to their second place finish last year. Tasked to lead the Quezon Avenue squad is forward Ervin Magistrado who fueled the amazing Quezon avenue comeback. The Quezon ave full court press worked wonders as Magistrado together with junior Olympian Charlon Untalan, Paolo Zabala and Eldrick Jamero unleashed a paralyzing full court press that made the Taguig based dribblers commit mistakes. The Quezon ave team crawled back to 64 -65 with less than a minute left until Becares scored on free throw and put back to seal the win for the host team.

Eldrick Jamero floats in mid-air

After six days of the 11th STI Basketball Showdown, defending champion STI College Sta. Rosa is still on top sporting an immaculate 6 - 0 slate and are poised to make it to the finals. The Global City dribblers are in second place with a 5 win one loss slate with their only loss coming at the hands of the defending champs. STI College Balagtas is in third place with two wins and two losses while last year's runner up STI College Quezon Avenue is in fourth with a 2 win four loss slate. STI College Las Pinas has one win and five losses while STI College Taft is the only "non-defeated" team in the league.

Pascual of Balagtas is fouled

by Sta. maria of Las Pinas

Scores

STI COLLEGE GLOBAL CITY (69)

Avila 19 , W. Sultan 14, Lontoc 7, Becares 7, Acuña 6, de Belen 6, Lagrimas 3, Sarmiento 2, Jimenez 2, Reyes 2, Magsalos 1, F. Sultan 0, Manalad 0, Elumba 0, Baquiran 0,

STI COLLEGE QUEZON AVENUE (67)

Magistrado 19, Zabala 17, Ragundiaz 12, Jamero 7, Cervantes 5, Untalan 5, Daclitaan 2, Araos 0, Zapanza 0, Magno 0