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

ASSOC 25th Anniversary Celebration

As I look at myself and think of what I have become, I will always remember that a big part of me is because of the brotherhood that I got immersed when I was in College. I have always mentioned that the term “Campus Tour” actually came from my experience in College since I was in four schools in my seven and half college journey. I have met a lot of people and have also been with a big barkada when I was in PSBA but nothing beats the way of the ASSOC brotherhood.

The Choir

Being with my brothers helped me develop a lot of values and in a small way molded me to who I am now. I learned the value of commitment since every time we have projects we give 100% commitment on what we did and as we always say there no half-baked commitment, it’s always 100% or no commitment at all, 99% will never do! One thing that binds each and everyone is one’s word of honor. Being an Atenean, rich or poor, that is the only thing that makes or breaks you. Our word of honor commands respect to your peers and upperclassmen.

Fr. Kreutz celebrating the mass

One thing great about the Ateneo is its rich tradition. I work in an environment where various officemates come from different walks of life. Some of my officemates even come from the other prestigious universities but envy me when it comes to the wide network of school mates that I have. This is because of the bond that we all create since we were wearing short pants in grade school and the brotherhood that we have nurtured through the years.

The Core of HS Batch 1985

As I reminisce the past two decades of drinking sessions, basketball games and random nonsense moments, I realize that the hundred cases of beers and the thousands of laughs we all have shared have served its purpose. Deeper bonds have been made, help was extended to friends who were seeking a better future and more importantly everything we have shared in the past can now be passed on to the next generation of ASSOC members.

The Core of HS Batch 1987

It has always been great to go back and visit the Ateneo. The Ateneo High School Chapel was a fitting venue for the 25^th Anniversary mass. The Choir which was composed of our Days with the Lord - Assoc members who up until now are still serving various DWTL communities. The Alumni especially the core of the 1985 batch that I enjoy seeing and sharing lots of fun moments. This is the kind of brotherhood that I believe will last even when our hairs are all gray and our laughter subdued. Happy 25^th Anniversary ASSOC, here is to more brotherhood moments to come.

Party People

NBA All-Star Game 2011

This video of the All-Star game

is an update of what really happened during

the All-Star game. Just wanted to share. Enjoy.

All Star Weekend

The NBA 2011 All- Star weekend's regular side shows had its own drama and highlights. The 3 point shoot out crowned a new king in James Jones from the Miami Heat edging NBA Superstars Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. On the other hand, the NBA Slam Dunk competition had its own drama and was not lacking in creativity. All four competitors, seven foot Serge Ibaka of the Oklahoma Thunder, another seven Footer JaVale McGee of the Washington Wizards, DeMar Darozan of the Toronto Raptors and eventual champion Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers had their own highlights and drama in competing in one of the most exciting dunking competitions ever.

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

16th NYC in CDO Highlights

The stage is set for the

16th NYC in CDO

The STI Performing Arts

interpreted the Invocation Hymn

Colbert Rabaya,

School Administrator

of the host school

is shown here

welcoming the delegates

STI College CDO dancers

in the opening number

THE REAL AGA MUHLACH

DANCE NUMBER

An excited Robby Manubay

A Reserved Dennis Evangelista

An energetic Jet Nera

When you invite them, they come

As usual Queenie Padilla

mesmerized the crowd

Yours truly and Queenie

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

HVD

To all the gurls I've loved before

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

CLICK HERE

11th STI Basketball Showdown: Santa Rosa leads the pack

Aries Santos helps out Arvin Sarmiento

When the smoke was cleared there was only one unbeaten team standing and that was defending champion STI College Santa Rosa which used almost all its players for a 40 minute non-stop pressure defense to stop previously unbeaten STI College Global City 89 - 69. The Laguna based cagers jumped on the gun right away as they raced to a 6 – 0 lead and never looked back as the home crowd of the Global City cagers were rarely a factor in the game. The wildly cheering students from STI College Global City eventually fizzled in the wake of the 20 point cushion that never went below 13 points which eventually dismayed the home town crowd.

Aries Santos scores

High flying guard Aries Santos led the Santa Rosa attack as he scattered 23 points together while Richmond Reyes underscore his strength inside the paint by adding 20 points. A third high scorer in Ruzzel Parala spelled the doom for the Global City dribblers as Parala scored from beyond the arc to show the balanced attack of the laguna based defending champs. Although the troika ended up topscoring, it was still a team effort for the champs. Gone were the big guns of the defending champs but their team game and relentless defense showed that they are a better team this year and are poised to repeat as champs.

Wynald Sultan on the drive

The unforgiving pressure defense of the Santa Rosa cagers worked wonders as point guards Mark Acuña and former Junior Olympian Arvin Sarmiento was obviously bothered by the sticky defense of the Santa Rosa players that they found it hard to set up their scorers. Forwards Wynald Sultan and Jay-Ar Avila were the only consistent scorers for the Global City team as the rest of the team contributed in spurts. The Global City team were forced to numerous turnovers which the Santa Rosa cagers capitalized on as they converted most of their points through fastbreak plays.

The Air up there

STI College Santa Rosa now sports an immaculate 4 – 0 and will face another contender STI College Balagtas for its last game. The Global City squad thus goes down to 3 – 1 and is expected to breeze through its next opponent STI College Taft 0 - 4 . STI College Quezon Avenue is 1 – 3 and will face STI College Las Pinas which also tots a similar record. The tournament is a double round format with the top two teams advancing to the finals.

The Scores

STI College Sta. Rosa (89)

Santos 23, Reyes 20, Parala 16, Ferrer 10, Arzola 9, Naraga 7, Maunahan 2, Jaspe 0, Capacete 0, Sayao 0, Galamiton 0, Marqueses 0

STI College Global City (69)

Sultan 17, Sarmiento 15, Avila 14, Becares 8, Magsalos 4, Reyes 3, Jimenez 2, Elumba 0, Lagrimas 0,

A timely reunion

What is wrong with the picture 2011

Me and my Ateneo friends rarely see each other. Let me rephrase that, I rarely see my Ateneo friends lately and that lately has been the past eight years when my work in STI has become the reason why I rarely go out with friends. One of our closest friends Ur Rodrigo just recently visited the country and that alone was a great reason to get together. I just missed the many laughs that me and my Ateneo friends shared. These are priceless moments that I hope will be more often. Even when we parted ways, there were still many stories that were waiting to be told...I hope get-togethers like this become more often.

16th STI NYC at SMX Convention Center

2010 STI Singing Idol Jenielyn Libre of STI College Caloocan

sings the Invocation Hymn "Jesus take the wheel"

The STI Network just keeps on getting bigger and bigger. In 2005, the STI annual convention which was known as the STI IT convention back then was reverted to two days since the number of attendees have dwindled from 15,000 for three days to 11,000 for two days. Back then STI was experiencing problems with regards to its enrollment. Five years later we are back to three days and a record breaking 19,600 confirmed attendees.

The newly formed NYC Dancers open the show

The NYC has now become a yearly spectacle that STI students await and the SMX Convention Center has become the new home of the STI National Youth Convention. As I mentioned close to twenty thousand students were confirmed to the yearly Metro Manila event. These students were from thirty eight STI schools with some coming from as far as Ilagan in Isabela, Tarlac and Dagupan City.

Yours truly with my dance number

STI College Fairview, the school with the biggest population confirmed two thousand five hundred STIers to the event. This confirmation gave the Quezon City based school the bragging rights to have only three other schools join them in the last session of the convention. Most of the students present during the convention are excited to get not only the latest in technology and other things that will help their confidence, but their excitement comes with the latest jokes, music and guest artist in the event.

Microsoft's Robby Manubay asks an STI student

The technology partner for this year is Microsoft. Speaker is Microsoft Philippines lead for Live @ Edu Robby Manubay. Robby's presentation centered on the different products of Microsoft that is very helpful to education. Microsoft is putting a lot of free products online as long as STIers will register with their new live @ edu email. In his presentation was a demo of XBOX Kinek which drew great claps from the STIers.

Jet Nera gives out a prize

Jet G. Nera is was a former President of the Philippine Society for Training and Development. He was recommended by last year's speaker Pido Aguilar and he did not disappoint STI fans. He took over the nation building topic which was widely received by the STI studes specially during the part when he was explaining the "Have a bias for action" part of his presentation.

Dennis Evangelista was well applauded

One of the most awaited presentations is the one of Dennis Evangelista. Ever the entertainer and the one who gives the most heart wrenching presentation, Dennis has become a favorite of STIers who have watched him for the past few years. Dennis started out with a dance number that pumped out the audience and then eventually caught the eye of STIers with his true to life examples.

The Gorgeous Queenie Padilla laughing at the handsome one

To cap the Metro Manila NYC, we have invited the beautiful Queenie Padilla to wow the crowd. Queenie's beauty and talent was the perfect icing on the cake of the very successful Metro Manila run of the NYC. Queenie also got the winning ticket stubs for the raffle winners of the Samsung Laptop computer and other raffle items. Til the next convention, I hope that the success will continue.

STI Volleyball Men's Team finally wins

JR Ponce serving

Height is something that Daniel Trinidad, a third year spiker out of STI College Taft was not blessed. But even though he lacked stature he surely made up for it with his big heart and determination to win. He is the only remnant of the STI College Team that started three seasons ago and his spunk and heart rubbed off on his team mate as he was a big part in the Olympians conquest over the University of Makati Hardy Herons. It was the first win of the Olympians in three years.

Amontos and Blazo block the Herons

The Olympians started slow mainly because some of their main guns arrived late. In the second set, the Hardy Herons erected a 17 - 10 lead and looked poised to take that set too. Unfortunately for them,spikers JR Ponce and John Amontos took turns in blocking the hits of the Herons and they themselves combined to give the surging Olympians the lead and eventually overtake the Herons to take the second set by a whisker 25 - 23.

Synchronized Jumping

The Hardy Herons battled back in the third set. They adjusted their attack since most of their spikes were blocked by the big men of the Olympians. Their gambled payed off as they yielded only a few points and got the Olympians mixed up who found it hard to react to the new set of offensive patterns of the Hardy Herons. The result was a third set win and a 2 - 1 lead by the Hardy herons.

JR Ponce shows his stuff

Volleyball is a total team effort and the Olympians finally showed their team effort as Trinidad pierced the net, Rezile Lazaro set up the big boys, Team Captain Rhestie Blazo started to click while Ponce, Amontos and Cleng Bascarra ignited a big run to capture the fourth set. The team also held their grown as their momentum carried them to a 15 - 11 fifth set win to give the Olympians breathing ground and more importantly the confidence as they battle their next two opponents.

Bascarra and Ponce solidify the STI wall

Finally the Olympians are not the whipping boys of the NAASCU Volleyball anymore and are set to improve on their previous stints as they finally nailed that ever elusive first win. The Olympians need to beat the CEU Scorpions and OLFU Phoenix in their next two assignments to make it to the semifinal round. They dropped their first game against last year's finalist, the San Sebastian College Cavite Baycats. Go STI.