Blazers finally gets in the win column
After 5 heartbreaking games, the College of St Benilde Blazers finally notched their first win of the season over LPU 75-69.
“Para kaming nanalo sa lotto. Jackpot para sa amin ito.” Said CSB’s jubilant coach Gabby Velasco, who finally tasted his first win in the NCAA.
The Blazers led by as much as 21 points, 70-49 on a shot by team captain Mark Romero at the 5:15 mark but the Lyceum Pirates did not back down as they believed there is still enough time to make a huge comeback. A 17-1 run in a span of over four minutes led by Mark Francisco pulled the Pirates within four, 66-70 with 1:33 left in the gameclock. But towards th end, the Blazers got their act together kept the lead for good until the final buzzer.
St. Benilde started to pull away in double digits in the third period led by Paolo Taha, who scored six points in that quarter.
It was Blazers basketball from the tipoff with LPU managing to force just three deadlocks in thr first period.
“Finally we got our first win after so many heartbreaking losses but it wasnt easy for us. There was a scary part there. A lot of things went through my mind. Fortunately we held our ground. Sad to say, unfortunate things had to happen. It was ugly. Tapos na yung game e, the buzzer already sounded. I saw somebody thrown a punch on my player.” said Velasco.
“Inspite of five losses, we stayed positive. We tried to recognize our lapses and mistakes and gladly we learned from it. After, we just wanted to forget about it and move on. The fighting spirit is there. A lot of people recognize the positive things were doing and that will continue to inspire us to keep on trying. Next game, thr spirit will be there. We will keep on fighting. I hope we would be able to duplicate this. For now, we’ll enjoy this victory.” Said Velasco.
In Juniors action, LSGH crushed winless LPU 79-38 to improve to 4-2.
Box Scores
Juniors
LSGH (79) — Rashleigh Rivero 32, Ramilo 10, Paras 7, Ricci Rivero 6, Lanot 5, Barrera 4, DelaCruz 3, Alcala 3, San Juan 3, Gob 2, Lozada 2, Rasheed Rivero 0.
LPU (38) — Soriano 9, Cecilio 7, Menil 5, Lagman 4, Agdon 3, Moreno 3, Castaneda 2, Romanes 2, Nuyda 2, Taladua 1, Beroya 0, Fajardo 0, Licerio 0.
Seniors
CSB (75) — Saavedra 14, Taha 13, Romero 12, Grey 10, Ongteco 9, Garcia 5, Bartolo 4, Argamino 4, Jonson 3, Sinco 1.
LPU (69) — Mbomiko 13, Ko 12, Mendoza 11, Zamora 10, Lesmoras 8, Baltazar 3, Azores 1, Soliman 0, Evangelista 0, Taladua 0, Alanes 0, Ambohot 0, Garcia 0.
Quarters: 19-10, 39-28, 60-46, 75-69.
Coach Juno wants team to make a Closing Statement
Despite the win, head coach Juno Sauler was not satisfied with how the Archers finished the game against Adamson.
“The problem is in the endgame, we commit mistakes in the fourth that we don’t do in the first three quarters,” said the soft-spoken Sauler. “It’s just about learning how to play for 40 minutes.”
The La Salle coach said one of the reasons for their meltdown in the fourth is turnovers, something that they hope to arrest in their final game in the first round.
“In the end, we committed turnovers. It’s just something that we just have to clean up. We have to sustain what we do in the first three quarters,” said Sauler.
More on the Controversial Call
On the “controversial” call by Falcon Gian Abrigo, it is reported that Adamson is set to file an official complaint to the UAAP.
Commissioner Chito Loyzaga has stated that there is indeed such a rule on fouls committed away from the ball.
Sought for comment on the unsportsmanlike foul called on Gian Abrigo in the final 15.9 seconds of the Falcons’ 67-70 loss to the Archers, Loyzaga said there is a league rule that says all fouls away from the ball in the final two minutes are deemed ‘unsportsmanlike’ in nature.
Loyzaga showed to a handful of sportswriters the article on the league handbook pertaining to fouls on such cases, which read: “All fouls committed during deadball situations and/or the game clock is stopped will be assessed as unsportsmanlike foul only in the last two minutes.”
“Hindi ako gumawa ang patakaran na ‘yan. Hindi rin referees ang gumawa niyan,” Loyzaga said.
Abrigo was slapped with the foul as he jockeyed for position with La Salle center Norberto Torres while the Archers were inbounding the ball.
Loyzaga, however, didn’t give a clear answer on whether the call was indeed correct.
“Damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” Loyzaga said. “Kapag hindi tinawag, magagalit ang La Salle. Kapag tinawag, magagalit ang Adamson.”
UAAP considering to revise formula for individual awards
The league is considering to implement a new statistical points formula for awarding this season’s MVP, ROY and Mythical 5.
The new proposal will also consider individual scoring efficiency, or the ability to score more on fewer attempts, versus the current formula, which is based on the raw sum of points, rebounds, and other statistics a player registers over a season.
Junel Baculi, the athletics director and board representative of National University, relayed that the technical committee would not implement revisions to the current statistical points formula this year.
“We want to refine it,” he said in an interview with GMA News Online.
Ducanes wants to de-emphasize raw scoring totals with his proposal, and recognize other facets of a player’s game.
“In the current formula, field goal and free throw shooting have no weight; they should be included in the statistical points formula,” said Ducanes. “I think the current formula favors scoring too much, I just want to even the playing field.”
The current formula also adds a uniform “Won Game Bonus” to each player’s statistical points total for every winning game he played in, regardless of the margin of victory. Ducanes proposed that the bonus should be adjusted to reflect the gap.
No Green Archer has won the MVP plum since Don Allado back in 1999. Jeron Teng won the ROY award last year.