Chiang Kai Shek College closed out its elimination campaign with a bang, stunning erstwhile undefeated Al Cars-Hope Christian High School, 91-78, in the Smart Sports Fil-Chinese Athletic Association Inc. tournament presented by Tanduay Athletics on Monday at the Tanduay Gym in Quiapo, Manila.
Backed by Edison Yang’s New Fortune Mansion Seafoods Restaurant, CKSC needed a third-quarter explosion to create enough separation and prevail, finishing with a 3-4 record—good for fifth place in the 30-39 division of the eight-school tournament.
The Blue Dragons slowly pulled away from a slim 40-38 lead, as Joshua Tan knocked down three triples while Karl Villaflor added one, helping them build a commanding 68-55 advantage that they wisely protected en route to their biggest win so far.
Villaflor led all scorers with 29 points, making four of his eight three-point attempts, while Tan also drained four triples on the way to a 26-point effort.
Despite the loss, Hope still advanced outright to the semifinals, ending tied with Xavier School-McDavid x Windsor for the top two spots with identical 6-1 records. However, Hope secured the No. 1 seed due to the win-over-the-other rule.
St. Stephen’s, sponsored by Cellboy big boss Alvin Chu Teng, finished No. 3 and will face No. 6 Grace Christian College in the quarterfinals, while CKSC takes on No. 4 St. Jude Catholic School. The knockout quarterfinal round is set for April 10.
The Alusign 3M Stickers-backed Grace Christian College grabbed the last quarterfinal ticket after pulling off a 72-69 win over Uno HS-Golden Peters, behind Lawrence Chua (18), Brenson Go (16), and former Letran player Patrick Ang (14).
Meanwhile, GCC-Hyundai Home Appliances joined Xavier in the semifinals of the 50-and-above division after edging Philippine Cultural College-Transit X, 62-60. Both Xavier and GCC posted identical 6-1 records.
In the 50-and-above quarterfinals of this tournament supported by Genius Hardware, Ultraforce Tires, Cellboy, PGFlex Linoleum, Boysen, Lamtex Pipes, Jiang Nan, Hangry Pares, Powerhouse Tools, L.F. Fireworks, BYD Valenzuela, BAIC, Jetour, Oedo, 1118 Autospa, and TCL is set for April 8, No. 3 Hope will battle No. 6 St. Jude, while No. 4 St. Stephen’s faces St. Jude.
