JRU Heavy Bombers

[Joescoundrel]

From the PCCL Media Center c/o Philstar - - -

Falcons seal showdown versus Stags

Caught up in a tight playing schedule, Adamson University flexed just enough muscle to whip Jose Rizal, 73-58, and advance into the next phase in the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) Sweet 16 stepladder knockout playoffs at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

Kenyan center Austin Manyara unloaded seven points in a 17-4 fourth-quarter run that all but sealed it for the Falcons, whose coach and key players had to rush to the AdU gym immediately after the game to join Freego Jeans in the PBA D-League.

“We’re happy we won considering some of the players were thinking about our game for Freego, which was just one hour away. We were down in the first half and I told my players to concentrate on this game (PCCL) because this is our priority, student (league) first before commercial (league),” said Austria.

The Adamson and Freego mentor, in fact, sent Lester Alvarez, who suffered a toe injury in the first half, Roider Cabrera and Rodney Brondial to the Falcons’ gym ahead of the others.

Manyara (16 points, nine rebounds), Janus Lozada (14 points, 11 rebounds, five assists) and Eric Camson (seven points, 13 rebounds) finished the match and followed suit, as did the JRU players in the Freego lineup, Jeckster Apinan (17 markers) and John Lopez (four points, 10 rebounds).

The Falcons forged a duel with NCAA runner-up San Sebastian tomorrow, facing the same predicament of another game set in the D-League.

The Bombers actually stormed ahead to 20-15 against a Falcons team that’s apparently conserving energy for their next assignment of the day.

In the second game, Letran nipped La Salle, 66-61, to advance against UAAP Season 74 runner-up Far Eastern.

Kevin Alas drilled in 14 points, including a clutch basket that gave the Knights a 63-59 cushion going to the last 1:22, in his valedictory before leaving for the US for a month-long training with American Basketball Association team LA Slam.

Raymond Almazan dished off a near-triple-double with 10 points, 17 rebounds and seven blocks to complement Alas and the 14 points of Kevin Racal and 11 of Mark Cruz.

“This is a bonus win for us because we haven’t really been training together. Our practice is in conflict with that of the players’ D-League teams and as I promised them after the NCAA, I won’t force them to practice with Letran,” said Knights coach Louie Alas, who will also be gone for a month to be with Kevin and the family in the US.

[Sam Miguel]

Ateneo De Manila was 2-3 yesterday in Fr Martin Cup action, as the Blue Eaglets defeated the Adamson Baby Falcons 66-61, the Blue Eagles licked the UP Fighting Maroons 65-53, while the Lady Eagles bowed to the FEU Lady Tams 43-41.

The Lasalle Lady Archers also disposed of the Fatima Lady Phoenix.

Men's quarterfinals will be tomorrow Tuesday at the San Beda gym in Mendiola, Manila commencing at 10:30 AM.

Matches in the Gabby Severino Quarterfinals are as follows:

JRU versus Letran
Ateneo A versus Perpetual Help
UE versus Lasalle
Adamson versus FEU

There will also be one last junior division elimination round game at 9:00 Am of this same game day pitting San Beda HS A versus STI Juniors.

All seminifnal games will be held on Thursday June 7 at Trinity University gym in E Rodriguez. Match-ups in teh senior division will be determined based on the outcomes of the Gabby Severino Quarterfinals.

Ladies' semifinals have Lasalle versus Lyceum and FEU versus Adamson.

Finals for all three divisions will be on Sunday June 10 at the San Beda gym in Mendiola. It will be a one-game winner-take-all match for all three division championships.

[Sam Miguel]

Game results of the Gabby Severino Quarterfinals at San Beda yesterday:

San Beda HS A beat STI Juniors 91-56 (end of junior division eliminations)

JRU beat Letran 89-79
Ateneo A beat Perpetual 80-61
UE beat Lasalle 64-63
Adamson beat FEU 52-51

[Sam Miguel]

Fr Martin Cup summer tournament Finals, this Sunday 10 June 2012, at San Beda, Mendiola:

10:00 AM Ateneo versus San Beda (Junior Division)
11:30 AM Lasalle versus Adamson (Women's Division)
1:00 PM Ateneo versus JRU (Men's Division)

[Joescoundrel]

Ateneo De Manila survived torrid outside shooting from Jose Rizal to pull out a 98-92 victory in overtime and win their second Fr Martin Cup summer title in three years.

It was a nip and tuck affair as both sides played on short runs throughout regular time. JRU started off hot going up as much as 8-13 in the opening period before the Ateneo responded to turn things around 18-14. Guard Nate Matute got things going early for the Heavy Bombers scoring five of the first seven JRU points. Greg Slaughter and Nico Salva responded for the Blue Eagles with some nifty inside incursions.

Swingman Jon Villarias provided a spark off the bench for Coach Vergel Meneses, even as forwards Ron Carampil and Ralph Monserat provided relentless board work and inside points against the much taller Ateneo frontline.

Second half action saw Tonino Gonzaga and Keifer Ravena keeping the Blue Eagles firing when Salva and Slaughter needed a breather, taking turns attacking the basket and drawing trips to the freethrow line. JP Erram provided good spot minutes as a defensive presence inside, as did Justin Chua. Villarias, Carampil, Alex Almario and Matute however kept plugging away to keep the game tied at 60-all after three priods.

Up 77-69 midway through the payoff fourth period behind Salva and Slaughter, it looked like the Ateneo had the game in the bag. Villarias and Matute however were not done firing. Matute nailed back to back three-pointers to give the Heavy Bombers the lead 83-84 with only 23 seconds left. Coach Norman Black sued for time and guard Juami Tiongson was fouled on the ensuing play. Tiongson split his charities for the final count in regular time.

Both teams still managed to get into a slugfest in the extra period with the score knotted at 90-all on a Carampil jumper. Salva hit a pivotal basket and Slaughter and Ravena made some key free throws however for the final count.

Slaughter led all scorers with 28 points to go with 12 rebounds. Salva added 16 points and eight boards. Gonzaga had 15 and Ravena 12.

Villarias led JRU with 21 points while Matute added 14. Villarias and Matute combined for a half dozen treys.

[Sam Miguel]

By Marc Anthony Reyes

Philippine Daily Inquirer

3:03 am | Tuesday, August 14th, 2012

GAMES THURSDAY (San Juan Arena)

4 p.m.—Mapua vs Arellano

6 p.m.—San Beda vs Letran

MANILA, Philippines—San Sebastian squandered a 20-point lead but still had enough spunk to down defending champion San Beda, 80-71, even as Jose Rizal pounced on out-of-sync Letran to score a 101-83 rout last night as they shared top spot in NCAA men’s basketball at San Juan Arena.

The Stags, powered by their own version of Big 3 namely Calvin Abueva, Ronald Pascual and Ian Sangalang, surged to a 35-15 advantage early in the second quarter which threatened to turn the game many dubbed as “bad blood’’ into bloodshed.

But Baser Amer, flung triples to highlight the Red Lions’ searing rally, the last one in the dying seconds of the third quarter that pushed San Beda to within 58-59.

That’s until Pascual once again found his range from the three-point lane, and Abueva his magic touch and made things right again for 2009 champion San Sebastian.

The PBA-ready Abueva finished with 21 points, 21 rebounds and nine assists, while Pascual topscored with 28 points on 7-of-13 three-point shooting. Sangalang added nine points and 10 rebounds.

“We expected them to come back, given that they are the defending champions, what is important is that we made the stops we didn’t try to protect the lead,’’ said SSC coach Topex Robinson.

Like the Stags, the Bombers rose to 7-2.

The scores:

First Game

JOSE RIZAL 101—Villarias 29, Matute 25, Carampil 12, Lopez 12,Almario 9, Mabulac 4, Camasura 4, Dela Paz 3, Mendoza 2, Salaveria 1,Porter 0.

LETRAN 83—Kevin Alas 31, Racal 15, Cortes 15, Cruz 14, Kr Alas 4, Lituania 2, Gabawan 2, Luib 0, Almario 0, Belorio 0.

Quarters: 19-17, 48-38, 74-54, 101-83

Second Game

SAN SEBASTIAN 80—Pascual 28, Abueva 21, Maiquez 11, Sangalang 9, Dela Cruz 4, Antipuesto 3, Rebullos 2, Juico 2, Binuya 0, Miranda 0, Balucanag 0.

SAN BEDA 71—Caram 17, Amer 14, J. Pascual 10, K. Pascual 6, Lim 6, Dela Rosa 6, Adeogun 4, Dela Cruz 0, Koga 0.

Quarters: 32-15, 46-31, 59-58, 80-71

[watiwawa]

JRU just needs to upgrade their frontline and they will be a force. With Corre, the former UAAP mythical, coming in next year, they will have additional firepower and spark.

[Sam Miguel]

By Joey Villar (The Philippine Star)

Updated August 21, 2012 12:00 AM

Manila, Philippines - Rocky Acidre fired all but two of his 22 points in the second half, including two charities that secured Arellano U’s surprise 85-82 victory over fancied Jose Rizal U in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

Held to just two points in the first half, Acidre, a 20-year-old junior from San Jose, Leyte, waxed hot with 13 points in the fourth quarter to help power the Chiefs to what was only their fourth win against six defeats.

“What can I say, Rocky (Acidre) is one of our veterans and can be relied upon in the clutch,” said Arellano U coach Koy Banal.

Arellano’s victory also foiled Jose Rizal’s bid to re-join San Beda on top as the Bombers fell to 7-3.

Acidre highlighted his endgame heroics with a triple that shattered the 75-all and then set up Fil-Canadian James Forrester for a lay-up in the next play to give Arellano a five-point cushion with less than three minutes to go.

“I wasn’t instructed by my coach (Banal) to shoot in the fourth quarter, it just so happened that I got the opportunities and converted it,” said Acidre.

The Chiefs thus bounced back from a forgettable performance Thursday when they scored just three fourth quarter points and ended up getting drubbed by the Mapua Cardinals, 49-68.

“It was my fault that we lost in the last game, not the players. After that, I kept telling the team to stay positive,” said Banal.

The Bombers actually pulled to within one, 82-83, as Byron Villarias completed a rare four-point play with 15 seconds to go.

But the Bombers fouled Acidre to stop the clock and latter rose to the challenge by canning a pair of pressure-packed charities to preserve the win.

The Bombers still had one last chance to send the game into overtime but Nate Matute, who finished with 21 points, including three triples, hit nothing but air as time expired.

Arellano outscored JRU in the third quarter, 28-17, to break a 34-all count and post a 62-51 bulge entering the fourth quarter.

Then Acidre took over.

Meanwhile, Perpetual Help drew strength from Jett Vidal as it fended off St. Benilde’s furious fightback to escape with a 78-74 victory yesterday and jump into a three-way tie at second place with San Sebastian and Jose Rizal in the second game.

In juniors’ action, Robert Bolick stepped up in the absence of Mario Bonleon as he came through with a triple-double effort to power La Salle-Greenhills to a 95-76 victory over Perpetual.

Bolick had a season high 41 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists and topped his all-around effort with a game-high six steals plus two blocks for La Salle-GH, which improved to 7-3.

Bonleon is with the Energen Pilipinas right now competing in the FIBA-Asia Under-18 Championship in Mongolia.

In other high school result, Jose Rizal edged Arellano U, 53-48, to stay in the Final Four hunt.

[Sam Miguel]

By Cedelf P. Tupas

Philippine Daily Inquirer

10:37 pm | Monday, August 27th, 2012

Dragged into a tight endgame battle, Jose Rizal U proved steadier than Mapua again.

Repeating their first-round feat, the Bombers nipped the Cardinals, 63-60, last night to grab a share of second spot in the 88th NCAA basketball tournament at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The Bombers banked on their defense down the stretch, shutting out the Cardinals in the last six minutes to post their eighth win in 11 games and tie idle San Sebastian.

Letran boosted its Final Four hopes with a 62-57 decision over Perpetual Help in the second game to improve to 6-5 behind the 7-4 card of its victim.

The loss, which could have repercussions on Mapua’s Final Four hopes late in the season, was a bitter blow for the Cardinals, who went into the final six minutes holding a 60-54 lead after Kenneth Ighalo buried two free throws to cap a 7-0 burst.

The game closely mirrored the 65-64 victory of the Bombers in the first round.

This time, the Bombers found unlikely heroes in seldom-used forward Ralph Monserate, who hit back-to-back shots, and Ivan Camasura, who nailed a triple with two minutes remaining for the go-ahead basket, 61-60.

The Cardinals were still in the game heading into the last 20 seconds, but guard Andrew Estrella found himself in a crowd of JRU defenders and lost the ball, leading to a fastbreak basket by John Lopez with 12 seconds remaining.

Lopez led all scorers with 17 points. He also grabbed six boards, issued four assists.

Still, the win that was marred by 26 JRU turnovers left Bombers coach Vergel Meneses unimpressed.

[Sam Miguel]

By Joey Villar (The Philippine Star)

Updated September 04, 2012 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Back in harness, Calvin Abueva was back in his triple-double ways, powering San Sebastian to a 92-72 rout of St. Benilde yesterday in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Arena in San Juan.

Abueva, back after a one-game suspension for a disqualification foul, tallied 17 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists that made up for his nine turnovers as the Stags stayed in solo second with a 10-3 (win-loss) record.

In the nightcap, Jett Vidal matched the season-best 32-point output of SSC’s Ronald Pascual as Perpetual Help walloped Jose Rizal, 88-72, to tie its victim at third place with 8-3 slates.

It was Abueva’s third triple-double effort in this final season for the Stags after a 15-point, 15-rebound, 11-assist effort in an 80-65 win over Perpetual last July 3 and a 16-point, 23-board and 10-assist performance in an 87-79 win over Lyceum last July 23.

Abueva, the No. 2 overall pick by Alaska Milk in the recent PBA rookie draft, continued to lead the statistical points race for the MVP award but the fiery SSC gunner is no longer qualified to vie in any individual awards after his suspension.

The Pampanga pride, however, took it all in stride.

“My only focus right now is to help my team win a championship and my teammate, Ian Sangalang, win the MVP for me,” said Abueva.

Sangalang, who leads the MVP race now following Abueva’s disqualification, exploded for 16 of his 20 points in the second half while Pascual matched his output, highlighted by four triples.

It was also San Sebastian interim coach Allan Trinidad’s third straight victory since he took over from Topex Robinson.

“I have to give it to the players for responding to the challenge,” said Trinidad.

Carlo Lastimosa led all scorers with 22 points but the Blazers had no answer to SSC’s triumvirate’s (Abueva, Sangalang, Pascual) firepower.

St. Benilde fell to 4-9.

In juniors play, San Sebastian downed La Salle-Greenhills, 62-51, while Jose Rizal leaned on a 20-point, 25-rebound effort of Ginno Abrew as it turned back Perpetual Help, 74-70, to boost their Final Four bids.

The scores:

First Game (Srs)

San Sebastian 92 – Sangalang 20, Pascual 20, Abueva 17, Gusi 11, Maiquez 10, Miranda 6, Juico 4, Antipuesto 2, dela Cruz 2, Rebullos 0, Binuya 0

St. Benilde 72 – Lastimosa 22, Taha 13, Grey 9, Grey 6, Altamirano 6, Tan 6, Sinco 4, Bartolo 2, Deles 2, Dela Paz 2, Maconocido 0, Garcia 0, Romero 0, Carlos 0

Quarterscores: 18-12; 43-28; 69-48 92-72

Second Game (Srs)

Perpetual Help 88 – Vidal 32, Thompson 13, Allen 12, Omorogbe 9, Alano 7, Babayemi 6, Elopre 5, Paulino 4, Jolangcob 0, Arboleda 0

Jose Rizal 72 – Matute 16, Lopez 14, Carampil 12, Villarias 8, Camasura 6, Mabulac 4, Almario 4, Diapera 3, Dela Paz 3, Mendoza 2, Salaveria 0, Maconocido 0, Monserat 0

Quarterscores: 23-18; 42-32; 65-52; 88-72