SHS-AdC, USC score double-header wins

Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu and the University of San Carlos recorded two victories each in a pair of double-headers at the BEST SBP Passerelle Twin Tournament sponsored by Milo over the weekend.  At the SHS-AdC Mango Gym, the Magis Eagles had to work hard to defeat the University of the Visayas in SBP and Passerelle division games, while USC did had an easier time in repeating the same feat over CEC at the USC North Campus Gym.

In a battle for the top seed in Group B of the Passerelle division, SHS-AdC came from behind to nip UV, 40-38, while the younger SBP Magis Eagles hung tough in the endgame to outlast UV, 31-26, despite going scoreless in the fourth quarter.

In the Passerelle game, SHS-AdC fell behind UV, 38-27, at the end of the third quarter where UV had enjoyed a 13-point lead. The Magis Eagles, now 3-0, then went to its press and man-to-man defense to shut down the Baby Lancers as Andrew Velasco, Jed Colonia, Lyder Canieso and Steven Co teamed up in a fourth quarter rally to finally overcome UV (2-1).

After Canieso slashed the lead to 38-37 on a free throw, Co made another free throw to tie the game at 38-all with 1:02 left. Colonia then intercepted a pass and streaked for a layup for the go-ahead basket and final tally of 40-38 with 39 ticks remaining. Co and John Chen had eight points each to lead the Magis Eagles, while Christian Dado led UV with nine.

In the SBP game, it was a battle of defense as SHS-AdC (2-0) limited UV (1-1) to only two points in the third quarter to take a 31-18 lead going into the payoff period. But it was UV’s turn to apply the cuffs on SHS-AdC in the fourth quarter as it mounted a torrid rally to slash the lead to 31-26, capped by a triple of ZJ Dizon. SHS-AdC didn’t score a point in the fourth quarter and had to rely on its defense to stop the UV rally. Aaron Abunawan led SHS-AdC with six as Cholo Canada had seven for UV.

At the USC-North gym, the USC Passerelle team (3-0) grabbed the top seed of Group A with a clinical 65-49 win over CEC (2-1). USC’s SBP team cruised to a 79-27 win over CEC. SHS-AdC will face CEC in the Passerelle division semifinals, while USC plays UV in the other semis face-off.

At the Don Bosco Technology Center gym, DBTC (1-2) edged Southwestern University (0-3), 39-36, in a Passerelle game, while USJ-R (1-1) defeated DBTC (0-2), 43-25, in an SBP match. USJ-R (1-2) also won its Passerelle game against University of Southern Philippines Foundation (0-3), 43-34. The team standings in the SBP division are: USC (2-0), SHS-AdC (2-0), UV (1-1), USJ-R (1-1), CEC (0-2) and DBTC (0-2).