Roxas City, Philippines — The University of the Visayas routed Berkeley School of Baguio, 79-14, to kick off its campaign in the national finals of the 34th SBP Passerelle Twin Tournament sponsored by Milo.
Riding on its momentum from winning the Visayas regional championship two weeks ago, the SBP Baby Lancers started out hot, taking a 20-6 lead after one period. They held Berkeley scoreless in the second period for a 42-6 lead then allowed two points, 63-8, at the end of the third period.
Jan Mark Toring led the offense with 17 points while John Louie Bual and Denver Bisnar had 10 points apiece. While it was a good start for this weekend tournament, UV still has to overcome Corpus Christi School of Cagayan de Oro before thinking about a rematch with four-peat national champion La Salle Greenhills which also started out the tournament with a big win, a 91-51 romp over Corpus Christi. La Salle Greenhills (LSGH) plays Berkeley in its next game.
In the Passerelle division, defending champion National University also sent a strong signal about its intentions to score back-to-back national titles by cruising past Hercor College of Roxas, 106-40. In the other Passerelle division game, International School for Better Beginnings (ISBB) nipped Xavier Uniersity High School of Cagayan de Oro, 72-70, to keep pace with NU. NU faces Xavier University while ISBB goes up against Hercor College.