St. Francis rips UM; Las Piñas ousts Benilde

St. Francis of Assisi made its presence felt as it smashed Mindanao titlist University of Mindanao, 61-46, yesterday to barge into the quarterfinals of the Champions League 2002 at the Makati Coliseum.

Led by PBL veterans Ranidel de Ocampo, Erwin Sotto and Al Vergara, the Doves were never really threatened as they dominated the Wild Cats from start to finish.

Lyndon Abian led the team in scoring with 10 points but it was the trio of De Ocampo, Sotto and Vergara who fired the initial salvo, combining for 16 markers, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and three shot blocks that broke the back of the Davao-based dribblers.

UM, which arrived only early Tuesday, could not get its outside game going as it missed all its 14 attempts from behind the three-point arc. "It’s basically a team effort but we have to give credit to my PBL players who have done almost everything to give inspiration to my other players," said St. Francis coach Gabby Velasco.

A delight to watch was 6’9" Samigue Eman, a 20-year-old third year Commerce student who only started playing basketball three years back. He made only one shot in 11 fieldgoal attempts but went eight-of-10 from the foul line to finish with 10 markers.

In the other game, unheralded Las Piñas College found a hero in bulky Ferdinand Dennis Daa as it pulled off a king-sized upset of St. Benilde, 74-67.

Huskies, erupting for 11 of his game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter to eliminate the Blazers.