Immaculada Concepcion College (ICC) locked down Philippine Women’s University (PWU) for nearly eight minutes in the final quarter and cruised to a 70-54 victory in the UCAL-PGFlex Linoleum 7th Season on Saturday, Feb. 1, at Paco Arena in Manila.
While their defense was rock-solid, the Blue Hawks also delivered an explosive offensive performance.
Edrian Mark Ramirez and Alfred Joseph Flores ignited ICC’s fourth-quarter surge, each knocking down a three-pointer to help break the game open at 62-45.
PWU never recovered from ICC’s late-game onslaught, suffering its third straight defeat, while the Blue Hawks improved to 2-1 in the 10-team tournament.
In the second game, Philippine Christian University-Dasmariñas (PCU-D) also improved to 2-1 after dismantling Lyceum of the Philippines University-Batangas (LPU-B) with an 87-74 victory.
Ram Mesqueriola led PCU-D’s offensive charge, torching LPU-B’s defense with 30 points on a flawless 6-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc and a perfect 2-of-2 from the free-throw line.
Overall, he shot an impressive 11-of-15 from the field, earning Best Player of the Game honors in the tournament, which is also supported by Akari, CafeFrance, Advance Solutions Inc., Smart Sports, Spalding, Team Rebel Sports, Quintana Sports, Crane Faucet, Hapee Toothpaste, Jiang Nan Restaurant, Vital, Top Flite Academy, Maruyama, and Gerry’s Grill.
Ramirez was nearly unstoppable as well, exploding for 37 points on an efficient 15-of-21 shooting from the field, while adding six rebounds, five steals, and two assists—more than enough to offset his four turnovers.
Flores contributed 12 points, eight assists, and three rebounds, coming just two assists shy of a double-double.
Mesqueriola also dished out eight assists and grabbed two rebounds, with teammates Dave Bagatnan and John Carl Catayong chipping in 15 and 12 points, respectively.
Meanwhile, the UB Brahmans slipped to 1-3.
