USC wins Visayas Passerelle title

CEBU, Philippines - The University of San Carlos (USC) won the Passerelle division championship at the Visayas Regional Finals of the BEST SBP Passerelle Twin Tournament  2013, dropping the University of St. La Salle (USLS) of Bacolod, 60-39, at the Iloilo Sports Complex in Iloilo City. Unfortunately for the Cebu delegation, USC’s SBP team bowed to USLS in the SBP division finals, 41-33.

The Under-15 Baby Warriors rode on the momentum of their two big wins earlier in the four-team tournament to unleash its full force against the champions from Bacolod. After opening up a 13-5 lead in the first quarter, USC went to the duo of John Galinato and Daniel Rodriguez, who had six points each in the second quarter to give USC a commanding 31-14 lead at halftime.

Kent Malazarte then took over in the third quarter where his eight points led USC to a 45-26 lead going into the payoff period. Early in the third period, USLS closed the gap at 33-23, but Malazarte erupted with two three-point plays, a field goal and an assist on a Marc Ting basket to set the tone for the rest of the match.

Malazarte and Galinato then took care of the fourth period where they combined for 12 points to put the game out of reach. Galinato led USC with 14 points while Malazarte had 12. Jean Jacque Antigua got special mention from the coaching staff for clearing the boards with 10 rebounds. Astrolave Vista had 10 points to lead USLS.

If it was smooth sailing for the USC Passerelle team, it was a tough second day for its SBP counterparts. USC lost to USLS twice when it bowed to the Bacolod champions, 46-43, earlier in the day in an elimination round game.            

Given a second chance for redemption and to make up for the loss, USC made defensive adjustments in the championship and led after one period, 12-9, and 18-15 at halftime. USLS  made its move in the third period when Kyle Joshua Ramos single-handedly carried the team on his shoulders, scoring 13 out of USLS’s 15 third quarter points and limiting USC to only six points for a 30-24 USLS lead to kickoff the fourth quarter.

After Deanmark Rodina cut the lead to 30-26, USLS went on a 7-0 run for a 37-26 lead. USC then countered with a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 39-33 with 1:05 left in the game. But those would be the last points of USC as they fell into a series of turnovers against the tight USLS defense. Ramos led USLS with 13 points while Rodina led USC with eight.

USC and USLS will represent the Visayas at the national finals which will be held in San Fernando, Pampanga on November 23-24. La Salle Greenhills punched the first ticket to the national finals by winning the SBP division of the Metro Manila leg, while Chiang Kai Shek topped the Passerelle division.

In other games, Ateneo de Iloilo swept the games for third place of both divisions, toppling the college of St. John of Roxas, 50-37, in the Passerelle division, and Colegio de la Purisima Concepcion of  Roxas, 53-26, in the SBP division.  (FREEMAN)