Defending champion Grace Christian College and Xavier School outlasted their respective rivals to clinch the first two semifinal berths in the 45-and-above division of the Fil-Chinese Athletic Association Inc. (FCAAI) tournament on Monday at the Tanduay Gym in Quiapo, Manila.
Supported by Mintex and Fullercon, GCC banked on a torrid second-quarter assault to beat Uno High School, 70-58, behind the stellar performances of Allan Anson Tan and Albert Edsel Chua.
While it was a relatively smooth outing for the Graceans, the Xavier Golden Stallions, backed by A Prime Corp. and AcroCity, needed an extra five minutes to outlast Caloocan-based Northern Rizal Yorklin School, 71-59, in dramatic fashion.
Tan led the Graceans with 19 points on nine-of-14 shooting from the field, while Chua added 17 points, highlighted by two triples.
GCC will next face either St. Stephen’s or St. Jude Catholic School in the semifinals of the 14-team tournament, which is supported by Smart Sports, Tanduay Athletics, Genius Hardware, Ultraforce Tires, Cellboy, PGFlex Linoleum, Boysen, Lamtex Pipes, Jiang Nan, Hangry Pares, Powerhouse Tools, L.F. Fireworks, BYD Valenzuela, BAIC, Jetour, Yong Kee Roasting House, 1118 Autospa, and TCL.
Backed by Henderson and Ecooter, Yorklin came agonizingly close to scoring the tournament’s biggest upset but failed to capitalize on its opportunity in the dying seconds of regulation.
With barely four seconds remaining, a visibly exhausted Henry Chua missed two free throws, giving Xavier a new lease on life and forcing the game into overtime.
Eldridge Liao made sure the Golden Stallions would avoid any further scares, opening the extra period with back-to-back baskets. His timely scores proved decisive as Yorklin failed to score for the remainder of overtime.
Liao led Xavier with 18 points, while Michael Chua chipped in 13 and Gretch Go added 12.
The Golden Stallions will next face either Chiang Kai Shek College or St. Peter the Apostle-MetroAsia in the semifinals.
Henry Chua paced Yorklin with 27 points, including six triples, in more than 40 minutes of action.
