By Pigeon Lobien
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Saint Louis University got its rhythm early, take a 32-point advantage at halftime and cruised to a victory 95-55 win over the Philippine Military Academy at the Cordillera Career Development College gym here Sunday in the Baguio-Benguet Educational Athletic League basketball competitions.
The third victory of a powerhouse squad but always the bridesmaid Navigators came before the long vacation and a return to the court with a tough five game played on seven days grind that will be, certainly, telling for the team.
“And three of the teams are the league’s toughest,” said coach Raymond Austria. SLU started with back to back baskets but PMA answered with a trey to cut the lead to only one. That was where SLU started its running attack and tight defense to deny PMA the basket and even possession.
Angelo Cacho caught fire then as he matched PMA’s snipers as he scored all his 24 from long range, although he went two of six in the last canto. “So far maganda defense, focus talaga sa defense. Kailangan lang talaga communication,” summed the former SLU forward, and the youngest of brothers who played for the Big Three – SLU, University of Baguio and University of the Cordilleras.
Cacho gave SLU its biggest lead of 45, 95-50 with 2:11 remaining. Sean Ace Salom and Salvador Aquino added 12 and 10 points for the Navigators which will return to court on November 15 against perennial rival UB which it denied a finals slot in 2008 despite the presence of Philippine Basketball Association bound Kenneth Ighalo.
The Navigators lost to the Harold Sabado led Cordillera Career Development College, for the latter’s second straight title, while SLU lost despite the number one seed in the finals. It was also 10 years after the heart breaking last four seconds heave of Adidas World Streetball representative Ramonchito Esitgoy from midcourt erasing a two-point SLU lead and win game three by a mere point.
The oldest of the Austria brothers was with that UB team. Meanwhile, annual contender Baguio College of Technology escaped host Baguio Central University 85-84 to follow up its Saturday win over PMA and even up its slate at 2-2.
Fresh from firing supposed coach Gerry Estranero, who led CCDC to its second title in 2008, BCT was routed by UB last October 23 but bounced back with the PMA win last Saturday at the University of the Philippines gym. It took the Atoms nearly 20 minutes after trailing 15-16 in the first canto, but veteran Fruto Luzadas III conjured his own magic as he combined with sweet shooting Adrian Cauton in the first half, then John Reyes later in the game as they cruise to an 87-33 rout of the cadets. Luzadas had 13 points, while Reyes chipped in 11.
Cauton, who had a team high 16 points in the losing effort to UB, added nine markers. Cauton was simply unstoppable against the Eagles last Sunday as he poured in 26 points, but it was Luzadas and Julius Tapac who made the miracle in the later part of the game as they scored six each as they weathered an eight-point halftime deficit into win number two.
Cauton topscored for BCT with 26 points, Luzadas had 26, while Tapac added 12 points. Two-time defending champion CCDC had a game high 30 points from John Urbe, who led four Admirals in double digits as they routed UPB 137-48 last Saturday.
Bienvenido Villedo and Aaron Nang-is chipped in 16 and 15 points, respectively, while Airjay Contadi and Reize Tadeja added 12 and 11 markers, respectively, as the Admirals improved to 2-0. Meanwhile, the Lady Admirals sunk the Lady Navigators, 74-56, in what could be the biggest upset this year yet.
Laure Bangit and Rushelle Holman each scored 14 points to lead the Lady Admirals to the first ever win over the many time champion. Rae Caba and Maybellene Mendoza led SLU with 15 and 12 markers each. Bangit had 17 points, while Krienne Buyagan and Angel Serbito added 10 each as CCDC crushed PMA, 62-33 last Saturday.
However, CCDC suffered its defeat in the battle of the Cordilleras when the Lady Admirals bombed against the University of the Cordilleras, 106-79, last October 23 at home. Silcia Fuscalbo had a game high 34 points, Janelle Jandoc had 29, while Kayla Navato added 18 and 13 markers, respectively for the Lady Jaguars which seek to reclaim the crown against bitter rival UB. Serbito, Bangit and Buyagan scored 21, 18 and 12 pioints, in that order, in the losing effort as Holman was limited to nine markers.
