De Ocampo Memorial College and Las Piñas College eked out close wins on Friday to barge into the semifinals of the first Universities and Colleges of Luzon Athletic Association (UCLAA) at the San Andres gym in Manila.
De Ocampo made it past Colegio de Sta. Monica, 76-69, while Las Piñas nipped Metro Manila College, 66-65, to make the Final Four.
Allen Morales tallied 23 points while Cris Otacan made 11 for De Ocampo, which will take on host St. Francis of Assisi College in tomorrow’s semifinal round.
Marlon Pening topscored anew with 20 markers for Las Piñas, which arranged a Final Four meeting with elimination topnotcher Philippine College of Criminology.
Las Piñas also hurdled National College of Business and Arts, 79-55, last Jan. 28, in the stepladder quarterfinals before edging MMC.
SFAC downed De Ocampo, 65-53, in their previous encounter last Dec. 3. PCCr was similarly victorious, 59-58, over Las Piñas last Jan. 26.
Winners of tomorrow’s matches will dispute the first UCLAA cage title in a best-of-three series beginning Wednesday. PCCr and St. Jude College also open their junior titular series on that day.
Mang Inasal, Air21, Besuto prawn crackers, Villa De Oro Boracay, Magarbo, Magnolia, Basketbolista Magazine and www.gameface.ph are supporting the inaugural UCLAA season.
In the volleyball finals set to start Tuesday at the NCBA Fairview gym, St. Jude eyes two more titles in the men’s and women’s divisions.
St. Jude battles NCBA for the men’s championship while the women’s duel will pit the Mendiola-based squad against host St. Francis.