UST, two others clinch zonal berths

University of Santo Tomas, Emilio Aguinaldo College and St Clare College of Caloocan gained the final three spots for the zonal phase after beating separate opponents on the final day of the 2008 Smart-KFC-PLDT Philippine Collegiate Championship wildcard tournament at the Makati Coliseum.

UST finished the three-day tournament with a 3-0 slate by eliminating Las Piñas College, 69-56, while EAC escaped past STI College, 90-88. St Clare, meanwhile, survived against St. Francis of Assisi College, 70-66. They will join Lyceum of the Philippines University for next month’s zonal phase against teams from Luzon.

Lyceum survived a gallant stand by De Ocampo Memorial College in the fourth quarter to post a 77-75 win. Regie Rimando scored 18 points as the Pirates ended with a 3-0 record in Group A.

The Growling Tigers leaned on the efforts of Dylan Ababou’s 24 points along with Mark Canlas’ 11 as they grabbed a commanding 20-point halftime lead at 41-21.

But Kenny Bullo, Sereno Cunial and Marlon Pening combined to cut LPC’s deficit to 10 points, 59-49, with seven minutes to go in the match only for Ababou to score six points in the remaining minutes of the game to keep the Blue Lions at bay.

On the other hand, the Generals relied on the heroics of big man Lowell Yaya and point guard Argel Mendoza’s in the fourth quarter to shut down a pesky rally by the Olympians from a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

Yaya led EAC with 18 points.

 while Mendoza and Julius Quiambao added 14 points each as they booted STI out of contention after they finished third in last year’s tournament.

“The game against Lyceum was a wake-up call for us so talagang todo kami ngayon against STI,” said EAC head coach Nomar Isla, who once steered the team to a UCAA three-peat from 2004-2006. “We’re glad na makakasama kami sa susunod na zonal.”

Mendoza recovered from claiming a technical foul for wiping his hands to a game official by hitting six points in the last two minutes while Yaya converted a triple with less than three minutes to go that put EAC on top for good, 78-77.

Lanky Aries Parinas, the NAASCU rookie of the year, scored 20 points while big man Richmond Sibal added 16 as St Clare built a 22-point lead early in the third period before James Castanarez and Rex Leynes led an insurmountable comeback to tie the game at 63-63 with 2:27 left.

But a basket by Sibal off a spin move and a driving layup by Mac Opalia gave the Saints a three-point cushion, 67-64, with 37.5 ticks to go before they eventually stop the Doves’ chance of tying the game on a bungled trey by Jan Dulawan with one second left.

“We’re happy na makakalaro kami sa zonal,” said veteran head coach Jimmy Mariano of St Clare. “Minsan lang naming makalaban yung mga teams sa buong Pilipinas so it’s an honor for the school.”

The zonal tournaments are scheduled next month in Manila with UST and EAC joining Mapua Institute of Technology, University of Luzon from Pangasinan, St Louis University from Baguio City and NCAA South runner-up Lyceum of Batangas in Zone 1.

In Zone 2, St Clare and Lyceum will meet University of the East, University of Nueva Caceres from Naga City, NCAA South champion Don Bosco Technical College and two-time NCRAA title-holder Arellano University.